Eternally Missed
by Lu82
Summary: What if Matt and Gaia met in a different span of time? What if they met in a different way? What if somehow they already knew each other… even before they met? And what if… ok, enough with the 'What if ', just read it!  Muse. Het fic Matt/Gaia Dom/Jess
1. Prologue

_A het fic about Muse? Yep, I can do that * nods with conviction *_

**ETERNALLY MISSED**

Setting; From September 2003 on, between Italy and UK (but mostly Italy)

Pairing: Matt/Gaia, Dom/Jess

Something about that:

First, due to the bad way I treated the girls in 'How did it come to this ? ' I had to make them forgive me somehow… just like I had to make Dom forgive me after 'Try something new '… lol!

Second. Because I loved those pairings, esp. Matt and Gaia. She is the only woman I'm happy to see Matt with, otherwise he's Dom's property, of course!

Anyway, this fic is nothing about the real story Matt and Gaia (and Dom and Jess, as well) had, it's not an analysis of that, nothing like that, I would never be able to do such a thing!

This is just another version of that, there will be very, VERY alternative stuff, you'll see! For certain issues it's a sort of AU.

DISCLAIMER : I don't know and own Muse, Gaia, Jessica and any of the other characters in this story. There's nothing true, it's all invented by my crazy mind. And the two Muse's songs I quote at the beginning are the main reason why this story popped out from my mind, it's their fault, so get angry with those two (marvellous ) songs!

**To understand better this story: ******************* means ' in the meantime ' ,

**-**- means 'after awhile '

Summary: What if Matt and Gaia met in a different span of time? What if they met in a different way? What if somehow they already knew each other… even before they met? And what if… ok, enough with the 'What if ', just read it!

**P****rologue**

_I've never seen your face  
>I've never heard your voice<em>

_But I think I like it  
>When you instant message me<br>With a promise  
>I can feel it<br>I can tell you're gonna be  
>Just like me<em>

_[Pink Ego Box]_

_And you can't resist  
>Making me feel<br>Eternally missed_

_[Eternally Missed]_

September 2003. Somewhere in Como.

Gaia knew that she had no more time to waste. Summer was about to end, holiday time was gone and the new exam session lay in wait for her, first of all the Behaviour Psychology exam.

Anyway, that big book lay open in the middle of the table and its owner wasn't giving it much attention.

She had been reading and underlining the same paragraph for more than one hour, but that didn't mean that she had memorized it.

The girl kept staring intently the door, waiting edgily.

She had searched all the web around for confirmation and she had placed that order some days earlier and just the day before she had received an e-mail that assured her that the delivery would be on that day.

During the whole morning she had bad luck, but the day was still long and she was pretty hopeful.

Also, because the official realise date was just on that day, there could not be any delay; she would have never forgiven that.

As she was absorbed in her thoughts, the bell rang and that seemed the most beautiful sound ever to the girl. She opened the door, offering the delivery guy a remarkable smile, putting a signature on the paper he handed to her and holding that packet with great satisfaction. She closed the door behind her shoulders, unwrapped the package unceremoniously, admiring the layout of the cover.

She had already seen the preview on their site, but to look directly at the case from every corner was something different. If she stared at that image it could blur her view, due to the several figures that flew overhead a man observed them from below, on the back there was the same concept, with a little girl the observing instead.

Gaia removed the cellophane and opened the case, drawing out the CD-booklet very carefully. The lyrics blurred her view much more than the layout, as they were a kind of collage with cut-outs arranged around the lyrics.

The girl went on skimming though the pages, searching for some pictures of the band, but the only one there wasn't exactly what couldn't exactly be called a clean picture since it had been distorted, making it seem shredded. But Gaia liked him a lot even in that way.

The view had been satisfied, now it was time to listen. She glanced one last time at the book on the table, promising to herself that she would find time for the work, before surrendering to the pleasure of hearing the album for the first time.

She already knew 'Stockholm Syndrome' because a couple of months before Muse had allowed their fans to listen to it exclusively on their site, and that song had been enough for her to know with absolute certainty that she would love the whole album, as she had the previous ones.

And after about one hour, her suspicions were confirmed.

The most beautiful thing was that she could easily focalize on him in every song of theirs, isolating him from the rest and only concentrating on what he was doing. She could feel the vigour, the adrenaline that seemed to permeate him. After all the live shows she had seen on TV or searching around the web, she could easily picture all of his expressions and moves as he performed.

Gaia didn't forget her promise and managed to dedicate some hours to studying and revision.

Allowing herself a more than deserved break, she switched her PC on and went to the history page where the Muse message-board topped the list. It was the official, virtual meeting place of all Muse's fans, from all over the world.

Gaia always visited that page, but so far she had confined herself to be just a lurker.

She decided it was time to take a more active role, so she clicked the link to register.

"_I can't believe I'm doing this for real. I'm a basket case! I just wonder… who knows if Muse also visits this page sometimes, just to nose around a little bit. I wonder if _**he**_ does!"_ she wondered, as she completed the application form.

She still had to choose a username. She examined the ones of the other users, but she didn't find anything special, until she read the newest member's username: end_of_the_world.

"_People can be so full of imagination! Anyway, I was thinking of something a little bit more positive!"_ she thought amused, before coming back to what she was doing.

"_I wanna do things properly, so no stupid stuff such as 'little-gaia ', 'baby-gaia ' or 'cutie81 ', no way, I need to find something decent!"_ she thought to herself as she brainstormed, before an idea came to her.

"Yep, this is just perfect!" she rejoiced, as she typed the letters, one by one, pressing the 'enter' key and smiling when she saw that her username had been approved.

********************************* (In the meantime)

Somewhere in London

"So, are you having a good time with your family?" Matthew wondered as he updated the webpage for the umpteenth time.

"Yep! Today we went to the swimming pool, you can't even begin to imagine all the fun we had!" his friend chuckled at the other side of the phone. "It feels so good to come back home!" he commented, pleased.

"Enjoy whilst it lasts, we'll be touring again in a month!" the front man reminded him.

"So, what did you do today?" Chris asked him.

"Nothing special…" said Matt, remaining vague.

"Bells, I know you, I know how you act whenever one of our albums is out!" the other struck back.

"It's something more than normal, I just want to know what people think about it!" he justified, gesticulating in the air.

"Yep, that's right, but at least give people some time!" the bassist replied.

"It's been more than twelve hours since _Absolution _came out, by now. They've had time enough and yet there's still no one who bothered to leave a comment!" the pianist complained.

"Trust me, they will. Gee, you're worse than writers when they present their books!" Chris mocked him.

"I like knowing people's opinions, sue me!" the other snorted.

"Anyway, get the hell up from your desk and stop staring at your damn PC. Dom will be there in a heartbeat and you know how much he hates waiting!" Chris reminded him.

"OK, I'm about to quit it. Anyway, you're exaggerating; I'm not making myself ill over it!" Matt clarified, before greeting his friend and hanging up.

Matthew resumed staring the Muse message board home page.

"_Uhmm , lucky for me, I didn't tell him that I've also created a username to open a new topic about it,"_ he mumbled.

The thread brought him tons of answers, it's true, but for the wrong reason, they were just warnings about the fact that he had selected the wrong forum and he also had to introduce himself before opening any topics, just like the rules said.

"_Phew, it seems that they found the time just to scold me!"_ he reckoned annoyed, as he read the umpteenth warning.

He decided to give in and give up, also because he heard someone ringing his bell.

"_It must be Dom!"_

He was about to turn the PC off and go to open the door when his gaze fell on the newest member, drawing his complete attention.

"_What a strange username, I wonder why this person picked it up!"_ he wondered curiously and then he realised that the member was on the on-line members list.

The bell rang again, this time very insistently, so much that it almost annoyed him.

"_God, the pub is not gonna disappear if we're a few minutes late!"_ he thought, irritated, without opening the door, just to teach his friend a good lesson.

He went back to his PC and clicked on that nickname in order to see the profile. There wasn't much info, saving the fact that it was a girl. He was glad for that, at least.

"Damn you, Matt! You're still stuck to that bloody thing! Still craving your damn feedback?" Dom exclaimed, startling him.

And yet he didn't remember he had opened the door.

"God, your computer is not going to disappear if you leave it for a few hours!" the blond went on.

"_Okay. He and I spend way too much time together!"_ the brunet reckoned, a little bit worried.

"Yep, it is, if robbers come in my house and steal it!" he protested.

"Well, if they are as shrewd as me, making a copy of your key before you noticed it, believe me, it could happen!" the other chuckled.

"So, that's how you managed to get in!" Matt figured out.

"Yep, and if it's any comfort to you, I also have a copy of Chris' key, but don't you dare tell him!" the drummer winked at Matt with a smirk. "Now, let's go, we're already late. I'll miss all the girls!" he added immediately after as he dragged Matt towards the door, giving him just the time to grab his jacket.

"Yeah, like that would ever happen: Dominic James Howard without a bunch of beautiful women hovering around him!" Matt made fun of him as he punched Dom's shoulder playfully.

"Look, I'm rich, I'm famous, I'm fucking gorgeous … so let me take all the possible advantages! You should follow my example!" Dom struck back, making Matt laugh, as they left.

The brunet glanced at his still switched on PC for the last time, but he decided that to go out and have some distractions would be just the most proper thing.

They came back around 1:00 a.m.

Correction. _Matthew_ came back.

Dominic remained at the pub, acting dumb with a sexy, blonde pin-up, but Matthew had grown tired of all her bimbo friends after a while, no matter how pretty they were.

Sure, he also liked hunting girls and there were countless after-parties where he and Dom had had their fun with some groupies, but that night Matthew wasn't looking for a fling.

He sat at his desk and controlled his still switched on PC, updating the webpage. He lead the cursor at the bottom of the page and turned somehow upset when he found out that there was already another newest member; but when he glanced at the on line users, he was glad when he saw also eternally-missed.

He logged in, eager to contact her.

"_I'm such an idiot! I should go to sleep, so tomorrow I can get up early and study… and yet what am I doing? It's almost 2:20 a.m. and I'm still searching around this forum!"_ Gaia scolded herself, but she didn't turn off her PC anyway.

Before going out with her friends she had managed to write a topic to introduce herself to the forum. She had returned about half an hour ago, but instead of going to sleep, she had turned her PC on, trying her best not to wake her parents. She sat on her bed and was checking the message-board to see if there were some answers to her topic.

After all when you become a member of something new it always gives you the thrills.

She was happy when she saw that there were a dozen of answers. She was about to answer to everyone, when another window popped up, alerting her that there was a new private message.

Gaia smiled when she read who the sender was : end_of_the_world. As it was more than usual in that forum, the message was in English, but after the cultural exchanges the girl had learned English very well.

'Hi. I just wanted to say that I like your username a lot. Can I ask you why you chose it? I almost forgot: welcome to this community!'

A little puzzled by such a request that at least didn't seem a grotty attempt to pick her up, the girl first checked the sender's profile, but she ended up only discovering that it was a male.

She decided there was nothing wrong if she answered his message.

Matthew was happy when he saw her answer.

'Hi. You know… I chose that nickname because it's a sensation I'd like to feel, or, that's even better, I'd like to make someone else feel. Welcome, by the way, I saw you're a new member, too.'

He was impressed by that answer and his reply was immediate.

Gaia saw another window popping up, with a new private message by the same sender.

'You strike me as a very profound person. It would be so nice to get to know you better…'

"_Here we go with the attempt to pick me up!"_ she thought amused, but then she changed her mind.

Something told her it wasn't a stupid wanker who wanted to make sexual advances. No. That guy with such a creative username deserved a chance.

After all, he had paid her a very big compliment.

Matthew rushed to read her answer.

'Thank you. You strike me as a kinda interesting person, too. Plus, of course, you surely don't lack imagination in choosing usernames!'

He smiled as he typed the message.

'Well, I wanted something impressive!' Gaia read, amused.

'Congratulations, it seems you hit the mark!' she typed.

She was about to send it, but then she noticed her alarm clock that warned her that it was already 2:45 a.m.

'Listen, I'd like to keep talking with you, I really would, but it's getting pretty late here and I have to go,' she added, a little bit unwillingly and sending it.

After a couple of minutes she saw his answer.

'Yep, you're right, it's getting late, so I'll stop bothering you, right here, right now. I just hope I'll get more chances to talk with you. It was fun. Goodnight, eternally-missed.'

Gaia smiled, typed him a couple of sentences quickly, pressed the 'enter' key and then turned her PC off.

'You know, I always pay visits to this forum, so, yeah, I guess there will be plenty of chances to talk with you again, maybe even for a longer time. Goodnight, end_of_the_world.' Matthew read, before turning his PC off with a satisfied expression.

He didn't get any reviews, but maybe he had found something much better.

TBC

Notes:

About 'missed ' I mean it as 'strongly desired, craved ' .. and I guess also Matt means it like that in his (amazing) song.

This is to make you understand the sensation Gaia talked about.

Plus, 'Eternally Missed ' is a b-side from Hysteria's single, so it came after the album.. at least I think so.. anyway, in this story it will come after, because 'this ' Matthew still has to write it.

That's why that nickname intrigued him so much.

What else? Sorry but the idea of a Gaia who is a big fan of Muse thrilled me too much , just like the idea of a Matthew obsessed by feedback… maybe because I'm a little bit obsessed , too, lol!


	2. I

Huge thanks to everyone read last part, huger thanks to who even reviewed it ^^  
><strong><br>Chapter I.**

When Matthew woke up at half morning, opening the window, he was greeted by an unusual sun that was shining proudly in the London sky.  
>Due to the marvellous weather, due to the restoring sleep, but mostly due to the discovery of the day before, the gorgeous English guy was in a very good mood.<p>

He turned his PC on before preparing his breakfast.

As he ate, he went to the Muse message board page without expecting much... and then his good mood increased.

He was surprised when he saw that not only someone had already opened a topic about the newest Muse album, and contrary to the one he had done, this was in the proper forum. But there were already plenty of comments in the topic: the fans had already filled four pages. Matthew rubbed his hands, very satisfied.

_"OK, now I know what to do for the rest of the morning!"_ he grinned, before starting to read.

Before reading, he glanced briefly at the on-line users, but he didn't see eternally-missed.  
>After all, he hadn't logged in either, but Matt was hopeful: she said she was always on that forum, he was sure that he would contact her again soon.<p>

Right then he had other matters to deal with.

He finished reading at about lunch time, after taking a general stock of the situation: 58 percent of the fans appreciated the new work enthusiastically, 15 percent were partially satisfied, although they expected something better; an impressing 22 percent were new fans who didn't know Muse before that album and would have surely catch up with their previous stuff too and, at the very end, only a miserable, unimportant 5 percent was disappointed, thinking that Muse had become way too commercial.

At the provocation, Matthew simply shrugged, laughing about it.

He decided to inform Chris about the current situation of their album, so he rang him up. However, Matt seemed to be more of a stockbroker than a musician, acting as if he was letting his customers know about the stock exchange prices, since he kept recalculating the results whenever a new comment was added.

Chris was almost tempted to yell 'Buy!' or 'Sell!' just to make fun of his friend; instead he just thanked him for that prompt update, without telling him how unwanted it was, before hanging up.

Matt grabbed the phone again, since he had another band mate to inform about it. Contrary to the first one, he could very easily see him in person.

He glanced at the clock. It was 2:10 p.m.

"_Yep, he should be awake by now. And he'll be over his hangover, too," _he decided, as he dialled the number.

Dominic answered at the fourth ring or rather he roared his reply.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" Matt got concerned.

"Nope, luckily for you. But I've been up for nothing more than ten minutes and hearing the phone so early in the morning always bothers me!" the other grumbled.

"Early in the morning? Dom, it's _2:00 p.m_.!" his friend warned him.

"Really? Damn, time seems to fly sometimes!" the blond snorted.

"We can meet somewhere, what do you say?" the brunet wondered.

"Actually…" the drummer wavered.

"Don't tell me you don't feel like going out! Have you seen what a wonderful day is it? You just have to go out!" the guitarist insisted.

"Of course, I'd like to go out, that's not the problem. Truth is that Lucy… Macy… Stacy… Nancy.. whatever her name is, it was something ending with 'cy, is still sleeping!" Dom explained and the fact that he could talk out loud proved how much that girl was a heavy sleeper.

"Gee, Dom, how can you forget the name of all the girls you sleep with?" his best friend made fun of him.

"Well, they like me for other qualities of mine, surely not for my memory!" Dom justified, laughing with Matt, "OK, just give me the time to send her away and I will be all yours!" he added, before hanging up.

"So, this is the situation so far. Probably now it could change a little bit, but if we go to an Internet cafe …" Matthew suggested, but Dom stopped him in time.

"No, Matt, there's no need, I guess I'll survive even without the update!" he commented, rolling his eyes. "Lucky for me, you act this way just during the first days whenever one of our albums comes out, then you go back to your usual attitude!" he added.

"Why? Am I really so unbearable?" the other wondered naively.

"Yep, you are!" his friend replied, without worrying about gilding the pill, as they kept walking along the Thames.

Some fans of theirs had recognised them, but they stopped more than willingly to sign their stuff and take pictures with them, mainly because it was a quiet crowd.

Plus, although it was a really nice day, the streets were not very crowded, which was ideal for taking a walk.

"Yesterday I met a girl!" Matthew exclaimed, out of the blue, maybe to change topic.

"Good! Was she at the pub?" the blond got curious.

"Not at the pub, it happened after that," he explained.

"Oh, so it was on your way back, then. What's her name?"

"I don't know."

Dominic was a little bit puzzled by his reply: "How old is she?"

"I got the feeling that she is younger than me, but actually I don't know."

"Alright! So you got down to business without wasting any time. Well done, boy!" the blond approved, patting his shoulder proudly.

"No, you mistook everything. I. Did. Nothing. With. Her. We just talked, not even too much," the brunet clarified.

"OK. Is she pretty, at least?" his friend wondered, a little bit puzzled.

"I haven't the slightest idea of it!" was Matthew's sincere answer.

"Dammit, Bells! You must be kidding me, right?" the drummer snapped in confusion.

Matt decided it was time to explain everything to his best friend.

"But… Matt… you don't know anything about her. You can't already be bewitched only by her username!" Dom exclaimed at the end of his tale.

"Yep, I can. But it's not only that, there's more, it's what she says. OK, we hadn't talked much, just a few sentences… but it's already something, it was enlightening. Anyway, when I contact her again, 'cause I'm so going to contact her again, I'll get to know something more about this girl," Matt promised to Dom and also to himself.

Gaia was proud of herself for having the remarkable attitude of a good and committed student. She had spent the whole morning and a big part of the afternoon on her school work, so much that she could face the exam even that day. Still, she was glad that there was still a week before that fateful day.

She decided she'd earned a reward, and arranged to go out with her friends that evening. She had also tried to suggest as topic of conversation the new Muse album, but every attempt had failed miserably. Almost no one knew the band and the few people who did didn't feel like talking about that for more than two minutes.

"_I don't mind. After all, I already have someone to talk about that with!"_ she thought, once she was back home.

It was just a quarter past midnight, she had come back early, so she had some time to spend in front of her computer.

She rushed to the forum, logged in and when she did a window popped out, alerting her that she had got a new message.

She smiled because it was from end_of_the_world: he had written it at about 9:00 p.m.

'Hello. This morning I was hanging around the forum, but you weren't there. And also now I didn't see you, either. But I don't mind, I know that you will be back sooner or later, I just hope sooner.'

_Does this guy spend all his day stuck to his computer?_ she thought amused, but also softened by his message, before answering.

********************************** (In the meantime)

That night Matthew had decided not to go out, no matter how much Dom had insisted.

He was in his room, sat on his bed as he held on his lap one of his electric guitars, plugged in. After all, he lived in a fairly isolated area and the room was soundproof, so he couldn't be fined for nuisance, despite the fact that it was almost half past eleven.

His laptop was switched on, on the opposite side of the bed, showing the homepage of the Muse-messageboard. Every time he finished experimenting a new riff for his live performances, he updated the page, hoping he would find what he was waiting for.

Finally, he did. From the last update he knew that eternally-missed had been logged in for ten minutes. He didn't waste any time and placed his guitar on the floor, immediately logging in to see a new private message from her.

'Hello. Remember, I said that there would be other chances to chat with each other? Well, tonight is one of these chances, even for longer conversations. Too bad that I don't see you on-line.'

"_Damn me, I should have updated the page before! Please, don't go away, don't go away… "_ he pleaded, as he typed his answer as fast as possible.

Gaia had already checked all the topics she cared about and she was about to leave the forum, when the pop up she was already beginning to be fond of appeared once again. She already knew whom it was from.

'Here I am, please, tell me it's not too late!'

Matt sighed with relief when he saw her reply.

'Nope, I guess you're just in time. You know, I envy you a little bit. I'd like to have all the free time you seem to have, but with University and exams to face it's not so easy.'

"_So, she is a student. Yep, she must be younger than me,"_ he figured out.

He was about to answer, but she anticipated him.

'You know what? I'd like to keep everything on a virtual level, which means no details about private life, personal dates, but mostly no picture swapping! Do you agree?'

Matthew rolled his eyes.

"_The hell with my plan to know something more about her!"_ he thought but he smiled immediately after, _"Well, this makes things even more intriguing!"_ he reckoned, before answering.

'Fine, Missy, we'll play by your rules. About my free time, it's just occasional. You know, usually my job barely gives me time to breathe, but now it's a calmer period,' Gaia read.

'Okay, I guess that we can talk at least about our occupations, after all I already told you I'm a student. So, which is your job, if I may ask you?' she typed, curious.

Matthew laughed when he read that question. The most beautiful thing was that, saving some major details, he could answer her truthfully.

'I'm a full-time musician. I play both the piano and guitar, arrange and write songs.'

After a few minutes he saw her reply.

'Wow, that's so cool. I bet you're very good, so all my compliments!'

Matt smiled.

' Well, let's say I'm not so terrible, at the very end.'

"_He's so modest! I like that,"_ the girl thought, as she typed.

'Who knows, maybe one day I'll go to one of your concerts!'

His immediate reply made her smile.

'I would be so glad if you did. And I would reserve a seat in front row to you. '

Suddenly, Gaia observed a particular area of the forum and an idea popped out in her mind.

'Awww, you're so cute! You know what? If we keep on this way we'll have our message box full by tonight! Did you see the bottom of the page? There's a chat room, I haven't done it yet so far, but… wanna try?' Matt read.

'OK. Let's try.' he typed, not very convinced, but it was less complicated than he thought.

In a bunch of seconds they both were in their private chat room.

To speak instantaneously or simply to see that she was typing her message even before it appeared made Matt feel closer to het. OK, he still hadn't the slightest idea of her features and who she was, but he felt closer to her, nonetheless.

Finally, her question appeared and when he read it he burst out laughing again.

'What about Muse? How long have you been following them?'

The guy was almost tempted to write 'Muse are my life! ' but she would think he was just way too fanatic, so, once again, he chose a reply that was very close to reality.

Gaia saw he was busy typing something and finally it appeared.

'I've been following them since their earliest beginnings.'

"_Gee, a long-time fan! It's so rare to find one, and a boy, too!"_ she thought excited, before answering.

'You're such a devoted fan! Good. Instead I've known them only since _Origin of Symmetry_, but I really like them, they're my favourite band ever. And finally I'm gonna see them live, in October!' Matthew read.

"_Alright. How many dates do we have in October? Twenty, all around Europe? And how many people will there be at our shows? From 10.000 to 60.000 more or less? Yep, I can say that now I'm two steps away from meeting her !"_ he thought sarcastically.

In the meantime, she had written again.

'What about you? Have you ever been at one of their shows?'

"_Gee! What bloody, absurd situation did I put myself in?"_ he wondered amused, before finding an answer as effective as true.

'You know, I can say that whenever they play, I'm there with them!' Gaia read.

"_Awww, poor dear guy, although he's such a big fan, he didn't manage to see them yet, maybe because of his job!"_ she figured out, ready to comfort him.

'C'mon, cheer up and don't get upset. Who knows… maybe one day you'll see them, too, or maybe we'll go together to one of their shows!'

Matthew tried to picture the potential scene in his mind: him, sat in front row with her, watching a two-hours jam session with Chris and Dom!

"_Sure, Tom would be so happy about that!"_ he chuckled, before answering.

'You know, it would be sort of complicated… but it surely would be very nice, nonetheless.'

They spent another half an hour talking about everything, mostly about music, discovering some new aspects of each other. The fact that she played the bass made Gaia earn bonus points from Matthew, as did her confession that she was listening to Muse's newest album as she was chatting with him.

The icing of the cake arrived when, just before saying goodbye, she reviewed their whole album, song by song, just as he preferred.

"I'm liking this girl more and more, second by second!" he reckoned without considering how odd it was to be so fond of someone he hadn't even ever seen.

TBC

Don't worry, Matt's feedback fever stops here, otherwise he would be really unbearable, lol!

Well, things could become _a little less _virtual in next chapter, you know? ;)

Please, if you find the time, let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading ;)


	3. II

**Chapter II.**

Both Matt and Gaia had never thought about the possibility of having such an astonishing connection with someone they didn't even know in person. What was even more surprising was that they made such a connection even talking about private stuff.

Yet they still felt that way and, whenever they had some free time, they sat in front of their computers, hoping to find the other on-line. They had met each other on the forum barely three weeks before, but they seemed to have a perfect understanding of one another, something that usually happens after years of friendship.

Sure, since their tour had started again Matt had less free time than before and Gaia had noticed that, too, but she had associated that with his job, she thought that he had more shows to perform.

As a matter of fact it took Matt several days before he got the chance to visit the forum page and even when he managed to do that, he was always in a hurry. Still, they could content themselves with a few minutes to spend together, if only virtually.

They managed to talk about tons of things, particular news items they had both heard about or something funny that had happened to one of them. They talked about some movies they had both seen or about their dreams and projects for the future.

Gaia had confessed to him that she wanted to become a successful psychologist; about Matthew… well, he figured that telling her he wanted his band to be the first one to play on the Moon would be way too showy as a secret wish, so he decided to fall back on something less ambitious.

Even when Gaia suggested talking about their travel experiences, Matthew had some difficulties since he chose to describe only three or four places of _the whole world_ he had visited, many places, more than once.

Gaia had told him about her cultural exchange in the States which was an experience that not only had helped her improve her English a lot, but had also allowed her to meet Jessica, an American girl of the same age she had made friends with. That friendship had become even stronger when Jessica had come to Italy for her own study abroad.

That happened some years before, but the two girls kept in touch constantly, paying visits to each other whenever they could. By then they had become best friends.

Gaia was more than happy because she would see her again in a week; Jessica would be visiting her for a couple of weeks. The problem was that on the second week there would be the concert.

Gaia knew that it was useless to try to persuade Jessica to join her at the concert since her friend didn't even know who Muse were and she didn't care about finding that out, regardless of Gaia's attempts to make her change her mind.

Plus, it wasn't just the night of the concert. Gaia knew that three days after the tour date in Milan, Muse would perform at Bologna too. Unfortunately, Gaia had to content herself only with the show in Milan, since Bologna's gig had been sold out before she had the chance to buy the ticket. Either way, it would be too complicated to persuade Jessica to come with her. The fact that there wasn't any tour date between Milan and Bologna meant only one thing.

"_Muse are gonna stay in Italy, he's gonna stay in Italy! And I'm almost sure they will stay in Milan,"_ the girl thought, excited.

She couldn't lose such an important chance. Of course, she wasn't expecting a miracle, but she wanted to try hard and push her luck, trying to stay in that town as long as possible. She already knew what to do.

Amidst occasional chats between the two 'virtual friends', several shows to perform for Matt and some exams to take for Gaia, the day of Jessica's arrival came.

Gaia was thrilled, but before picking her up at the airport, she switched her PC on, because she had an important message to leave.

******************************** (In the meantime)

Although it was almost midday, everyone was still sleeping on the tour-bus. Well… almost everyone. The concert in Koln the night before was fantastic, but also very tiring, so the band and the crew slept in to recharge their batteries. One of them had recharged enough.

Matthew had been already up for half an hour, engrossed in working on his laptop. More specifically, he was dealing with a blank page he kept filling with words and sentences that he ended up deleting, unsatisfied, as he got ready to start it all over again. After the umpteenth, draining attempt, he gave in.

"_It's bloody useless, it seems that my inspiration remained in London,"_ he snorted, as he passed a hand through his flaming, red hair in frustration.

At the beginning of that tour, he had chosen to dye it again since it had brought him good luck during their last tour, he was sure that it would this time, too.

He was so certain of it that he had tried to persuade his band mates to follow his example.

Dominic had simply added some highlights, so he was blonder than usual, but Chris had remained adamant that he would not mess about his hair just because Matt wanted him to.

Matt was about to turn his PC off, but then he decided to go to a certain website. It was rare or rather impossible that eternally-missed was on-line at that time of the day, but a try wouldn't hurt.

He went to the homepage and he almost yelped when he saw her on-line. He clicked on the users list to see her actions. She had been logged in for nothing more than ten minutes and she was engrossed sending a private message. For certain reasons, Matt could easily guess who the addressee was.

He immediately logged in, being careful to type the letters in the correct order, despite his rush.

After that, a private message appeared in his inbox, but he didn't have the time to read it.

Gaia updated the page in order to enter the sent messages area and check it. She glanced almost carelessly at the on-line users, but as soon as she saw end_of_the_world she decided that the checking could wait.

She immediately went to the chat, inviting him in.

'Hey! I'd never thought I would find you here now, that's cool!' she typed.

She didn't need to wait long to see the answer.

'Hey there! I'd never thought I would find you here now either, but it's such a pleasant surprise! You know, I was about to read your message.'

'Don't bother. I can tell you right here, right now. Even if it's not good news…' she warned him.

"_Oh, no, what is she going to tell me? Maybe that she has a very jealous boyfriend who doesn't want her to spend her time talking to me anymore?"_ the Englishman was alarmed, not due to the PC issue, but mostly due to the possibility that she was already taken.

Although he didn't have the slightest idea about what she looked like, that girl already fascinated him in an almost scary way. He didn't have to ask her anything because she completed her sentence on her own.

'Today my best friend is gonna pay a visit to me. I'm happy, since we haven't seen each other for ages! But this also means that I won't manage to stay at the PC like I used to, you know… that wouldn't be nice towards her. So, I'm sorry, End, but I'm afraid you won't hear from me for a while. :'( '

When Matthew read it, he sighed with relief.

"Granted, I'll be sorry for that, but the truth is that lately I'm too busy to dedicate some time to you properly; it's a miracle that I'm doing now. Anyway, don't be worried about that, quite the contrary, it does you honour: friendship is the most important value ever. You know, I have a best friend, too and I'd go through fire and water for him. So, I understand you, Missed, really. Have fun with your friend! ;)' he typed.

'Although I'll miss you badly…' he added immediately after.

'I'll miss you badly, too. And I'll miss our virtual chats. By the way, what are doing now? Are you travelling for some concerts?' she asked him.

'That's right. I'm out-of-town, one more reason why I haven't much free time,' he admitted vaguely.

'Also my time is running out. Gotta go to pick up my friend,' the girl informed him.

'I understand. And, tell me, how long is she gonna stay with you?' he wondered.

'Two weeks. C'mon, maybe when she's busy doing her stuff, I'll manage to grab my PC again and maybe I'll find you on-line. But I can do it only this week, next one will be very messy, you know, with the Muse's concert and everything.. I just can't wait!'

When Matthew read that message, he jumped to a frantic conclusion.

"_She just told me that she would go to one of our gigs, but she didn't tell me when. Next week we have only the Italian dates. So, this means she is Italian! Or maybe she is from another country, but she chose an Italian gig, anyway. It would be cooler if she actually was an Italian girl, they drive me crazy._

_The most important thing is that she will be in Italy. Okay, I don't know if it's Milan or Bologna, but compared to when I only knew that she would be somewhere in Europe; I guess that my field of research has turned definitely smaller!"_ the guy rejoiced in his mind.

'Hey, are you still there?' she wrote and that dragged him back to planet Earth.

"Damn you, Bells, are you gonna quit the bloody racket you're making?" Chris slurred, his eyes still heavy with sleep.

"But … I'm only typing on my laptop." the front man protested.

"Well, you're doing that too bloody loudly!" the other roared. "And why are you constantly stuck to your laptop, anyway?" he added.

"I'm working on it! I'm attempting to write a new song!" he lied, as he hid the screen from Chris' view.

"Eternally-missed wrote : 'Hey, are you still there?' Well, well, Bells, this sounds way too odd to be a song's lyrics, don't you think so?" Dominic promptly teased him, looking at the screen over Matt's shoulder, since by then he was awake as well.

Matt was still trying to figure out where the hell he had popped up from.

"You're chatting with that girl, again!" Chris realised.

Matthew had also told Chris and Tom about that mysterious girl.

"Hey! Where the hell did it go, that nice thing called 'privacy', in this damn tour bus?" he snapped.

"It never existed!" Chris chuckled as he ruffled Matt's hair.

"C'mon, Chris, let's leave him alone, can't you see that he's busy with his web fiancée? " Dom teased him, wittily.

"She's not my fiancée, but she is a nice, very nice person to interact with. Is it so hard to understand?" the singer got nervous, snorting, as he glanced at the screen.

'Well, this is odd. Probably I said something that shocked you! ;) . Now I really gotta leave you. Hope to hear from you soon. Hugs.'

That was the last message she had sent to him before logging out.

'Damn both of you! I've lost her. We hadn't spoken for five days and now we won't for even longer, I guess. Are you happy now?" Matt snapped.

"Oh no, Chris, we broke the spell between the little doves! Now no one will save us from Matthew James Bellamy's terrible rage!" the drummer made fun of him, pretending to be scared as the bassist laughed for that.

"You, idiots! You can't understand…" the front man grumbled.

"I can't understand anything with empty stomach! Dom and I are going to have breakfast. You'd better hurry up; we leave for Vienna in two hours!" Chris reminded him before leaving with Dom.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Matt warned them.

First, he had something to do.

'I'm sorry, I really am. Truth is that a hurricane overcame me, a hurricane in the form of my two friends, one of them is the one whom I said I would go through fire and water for, well… now I'd like to throw him through fire and water! Just kidding, anyway, I'm sorry for not saying goodbye properly. I promise I'll be more active next time, which I hope will come soon. Hugs.'

He sent the message, switched the laptop off and got ready to meet up with those two unbearable pains in the ass… that he loved with all his being.

"Gaia!" Jessica yelled happily, as she ran towards her and it wasn't something so easy to do since she carried all her luggage.

"Jess!" Gaia hugged her as she took her carry-on, before leaving the airport together.

"I have tons of stuff to tell you, we haven't seen each other for ages," the American girl exclaimed as they walked towards the taxi area.

"Yep, but there's plenty of time to do everything. Two weeks together. That's wonderful, isn't that?" the Italian girl smiled at her.

"Sure! You won't be busy with school while I'm here, right?" the other asked for confirmation.

"Don't worry, I've already studied for my exams, I won't touch a single book for the next two weeks!" Gaia assured her. "But truth must be told… I already took a little commitment… " she added.

"You mean the concert, right? I know, you already told me about it. Don't worry, you're definitely allowed to go there, I know how much the band means to you!" Jessica winked at her.

"You're not mad at me, really? Listen, why don't you come with me? C'mon, I'm sure we'll find someone who sells tickets outside the PalaVobis and… " Gaia suggested, but Jessica cut her off.

"Nope, dear, don't you even try. You won't ever drag me to one of their concerts. But you are more than free to do whatever you please, of course," she explained.

"But it would be so much fun! Plus, I don't want to leave you all alone that night," Gaia protested.

"Believe me, honey, I can look after myself. I'll have fun wandering around Milan, I'm so happy to be in this town, I love it. We'll come back here to see it better, right? Please, tell me we will," the American girl begged.

"I have wonderful news, dear. We're gonna spend this week at Como, at my house; but next week… guess who booked a hotel for three nights and three days in Milan? So, I'll make you see the town properly. Plus, no parents around means more freedom," Gaia informed her.

"Alright, you're great!" Jessica hugged her. "Just one thing, you know… you booked a hotel just exactly when your favorite band is gonna perform here… it's funny, don't you think so?" she made her notice.

"Uh! Right. This is a massive coincidence." Gaia shrugged, feigning innocence.

"You're impossible!" Jessica rolled her eyes, giggling, as she got in the car.

The first week at Como had flown away and the two girls had had a lot of fun together. The week of the big event came. The concert would be on Wednesday; Gaia had booked the hotel room for Tuesday.

In the morning Gaia had taken Jessica around Milan, showing her the most famous places and monuments and acting almost like a tour guide. The afternoon was dedicated to shopping in the city centre. They had temporarily split up because Jessica wanted to take a walk around the most fashionable districts and Gaia wanted to pay a visit to the music store near the cathedral dome.

She crossed the CD section without even stopping and rushed towards the musical instruments since she was looking for a new strap for her bass.

She took a look around to see where the accessories were, but what she saw, or rather whom, almost shocked her.

"_Oh, my God! But it's… yeah, it's just him, with no doubt. No, I can't believe it, I can't be so ridiculously lucky!"_ she thought, as she was about to approach him.

Matthew Bellamy stood there, enraptured by the several guitars on display.

"_My guitar is more beautiful than this one, I have got a guitar that's similar to this one, I would never want such a horror like that one, this one doesn't seem so bad…"_ he thought, as he inspected them all, one by one.

"You know, no matter how shrewd you were, dressing yourself so simply and normally, putting on even dark sunglasses and a baseball cap… the very showy red hair that's popping out from it betrayed you, since it could belong only to one and only one person," a female voice exclaimed at his back, startling him.

He turned in that voice's direction and… he was stunned. In front of him there was a beautiful girl: long, smooth and wavy brown hair with golden highlights. She was almost as tall as him, thin and slender, but with curves in all the right places, set off by the tight blue jeans she wore. Two curious and vivid hazel eyes stared at him, amused, as a bright smile lit up her face.

He smiled back at her.

"So, tell me, who do you think I am?" he challenged her.

"It's obvious, you are… " she was about to answer, but then she stopped.

"_Gee! What the hell is his name? I can't recall it right now, damn me! I think it's something beginning with 'M ', but I'd better avoid calling him, be smart, girl!"_ she incited herself, less panic-stricken than before.

"You are Muse's front man!" she exclaimed. "And please notice, I didn't yell it out, otherwise now you would be surrounded by fans. I hope you'll appreciate this courtesy from me. Anyway, let me tell you, it's not like you're helping yourself not to draw people's attention, I mean, you are here, in a public music store," she went on.

"You know, contrary to what you think, this is one of the best places ever where I manage to wander around freely," Matt replied, taking his sunglasses off to look at her better. Since he had been discovered, there weren't any reasons why he had to remain hidden.

Gaia shivered: she had seen him countless times on TV shows or on DVD, but seeing those amazing, so exaggeratedly blue eyes a few inches from her was really impressing.

"Let me explain it to you better: I love music stores because here the people are so engrossed seeing stuff that they don't pay attention to anything else; but, of course, there must be some exceptions," he smiled at her.

"You know, people happen to raise their gaze for a second and… mind something, or rather someone else," she said wryly.

"All right, you caught me, very good. I guess you deserve some kind of reward. What do you want? Maybe take a picture together? Or do you want me to sign an autograph? " he offered, stepping closer to her.

"No, thanks, I don't care about it!" she amazed him with her answer.

He hadn't heard the rest yet.

"Anyway, yeah, there's something you could do for me. Just a very, very little favor," she added.

"Tell me," he grumbled, confused.

"Let me meet Dominic! I guess he's not here with you now, right? Please. I've been crazy about him for years! I promise I'll be good, you can trust me. Please, you're the only one who can help me!" she implored him.

For Matthew that revelation was a hard blow, since he already liked that girl. A lot.

_"But if I invite her, I'll see her again..."_ he thought, since he didn't want to give in.

"I knew it! After all, that lucky, bad heartbreaker always gets the best ladies. Maybe is it just for his blond hair? You know, I've been blond, too!" he pretended to joke, making her laugh. "So, you wanna meet my friend, don't you? Now I'm gonna ask you a question: will you be at our show, tomorrow?"

"I've been waiting a life time for this moment to come. It's the very first time I'm gonna see a live performance of yours!" she answered enthusiastically.

"Alright. So, at the end of our show, come see us backstage and there you'll meet him. Happy, now?" he suggested, although it wasn't thrilled by that perspective at all.

"Really? Oh my, I don't know how to thank you!" she grinned, almost jumping like a child.

"You're welcome. So, see you tomorrow at the show, bye!" he said as he was about to leave, but she pulled him, tugging his black jacket.

"What's wrong now?" he looked at her, puzzled.

"You're very kind and everything, but... don't you think you just forgot something? I mean, OK, you invited me, but what does it mean? Am I supposed to go to the security staff, tomorrow, after the show, tell them that you invited me and expect them to believe me?" she made him notice.

"Ah! You're right. You're such a smart girl!" he commented as he drew his mobile out since he needed to make his offer concrete.

"Tom, it's me. Listen, there's a girl who will be my guest tomorrow, after our show, so you have to warn the security," he explained to his manager as she smiled at him, gratefully.

"Yep, I think that's good. So, we make her go there and then she says her name. By the way... " He stopped, turning to her. "What's your name?"

"Gaia!" she answered cheerfully, talking directly into his mobile.

"Did you hear her? Okay. I guess it's enough" Matt paused: "No, you're right, it's still way too vague. Wait, I know what to do: let's use a password!" the singer suggested, pulling away from the mobile.

"Since you like Dom, let's use 'Hendrix', do you agree?" he asked her.

"His dog's name? It's just perfect! I'll surely remember it!" she approved, excitedly.

"Tom, you heard it, didn't you? Alright, we'll do things this way, then. Thank you, we'll talk later, bye!" he closed the conversation.

"So, are you satisfied now, you, little manipulator?" Matt challenged her with his look.

"Oh, my! I really don't know how to thank you … Michael!" she rejoiced, but, overwhelmed by those strong emotions, she forgot about her little problem with his name.

"You know, it would be _Matthew_." he patiently corrected her, a little bit disheartened.

"Oh, c'mon, I got very close to it. I'm sorry, please, forgive me, but you know... it's just that after this news I'm a little hyper, so…" she justified.

"Yeah, yeah, I understand." he rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, here, let me arrange you better…" she added, as she leaned closer to him in order to put inside his cap even the most rebel locks and then she snatched the sunglasses from his hand and put them on him.

"Here we go, _now_ you are unrecognizable!" she smiled at him, satisfied. "Thank you again, for everything. You're a doll!" she added, kissing him on his cheek.

"See ya tomorrow!" she greeted him, leaving, as he remained to watch her go, bewildered.

"_You will be the death of me… Damn me, I have got to bloody quit thinking with lyrics!"_ he scolded himself, as he tried to recover.

TBC

I told you this would be a very alternative story, I guess that a Gaia who is a huge fan of Dom's is pretty rare to be seen! ^^

A little note: I don't know if Dom actually had Hendrix back then, but let's pretend he had, it's important for this story, you'll see

By the way, in the next chapter you'll see another first meeting.. ;)

Hope you'll still like it, but feel free to tell me everything! Please, do...

Thanks for reading.


	4. III

**Chapter III.**

******************************** (In the meantime)

Dominic was utterly satisfied. As it happened every time he was in Milan, he took a walk across Monte Napoleone Avenue, his favourite street in the whole city. His wandering was interrupted by several girls who stopped him, asking him for an autograph and to take a picture together and he pleased them more than willingly. He just loved the rock-star lifestyle.

When he passed the Christian Dior store, he found himself enchanted by a silver jacket with black trim that begged for his attention, from the window. He rushed in the shop to try it on and, as it's easy to imagine, it fit him to a T.

That result brought him not only to an immediate purchase, but knowing Matthew's tastes, which were very similar to his, he had bought a jacket for him too, red with white trim. He knew that Matthew would love it. It had been a while since he had given a present to his best friend. Plus, he wanted Matt to forgive him for being such a pain in the ass when he was trying to chat with that mysterious girl who fascinated him so much.

"_How the hell can you fall so badly for someone you don't even know? I have to at least see a girl, before I can like her," _he thought as he left the shop and was about to go back to the hotel.

Resorting just to the sense of sight, since he loved it so much, Dom caught a glimpse of a girl who was bent over the ground and seemed to have some trouble. He approached her in order to figure out what was the problem.

"_Dammit, my shoe is stuck. Why is this town so full of grilles?"_ Jessica thought, annoyed, as she was trying to take her beloved shoe out of the street drain.

For the record, they were the kind of shoes that belong to the category of 'Forbidden purchases that you can allow yourself just once in a lifetime '.

Until that moment everything had been fine. She had basked in the sight of all those shop windows and all the extra luxury background of the Avenue, such as the very expensive cars and the elegant clothes of the passengers.

In one of the shops she had even managed to allow herself to buy something. Her beloved Gucci handbag rested in its shopping bag on the ground, as Jessica was busy with her stressful activity.

"Wait, let me help you!" she heard a male voice behind her back, and since he was speaking in English she managed to understand him.

She turned and saw a young blond who was smiling at her, his eyes covered by his dark Ray Bans.

"I guess that it takes some brute force to do that. Can I try?" he kept smiling, bending near to the girl and replacing her.

She moved away and a few seconds after, just like an expert King Arthur who draws out the Sword from the stone, Dominic succeeded in that arduous feat.

"Here we go. See? It's intact," he stated, giving the shoe to her.

"I don't know how to thank you." She smiled, wearing the shoe like an expert Cinderella, before getting up with him.

"You're welcome. By the way, nice Jimmy Choos!" he winked at her.

"Are you a connoisseur of shoes?" she wondered, amazed.

"I'm a connoisseur of tons of things!" he revealed, as he lowered his sunglasses to see her better.

Her long and smooth, silky black hair didn't anything but set off her wonderful aquamarine eyes which enraptured him immediately, just as her bright smile had. She was tall and thin and her mini-dungarees displayed her top-model legs.

"_She's really stunning!" _he thought as he seemed unable to take his eyes off of her.

"You know, it's so nice to chat a little with someone, again. I was kind of sick of the odd blathering I can't understand," she giggled, bringing him back on Planet Earth.

"I find it funny. I try my best to learn some words," he stated.

"Well, good luck, then! You know, I figured that out by your perfect pronunciation: you're English, aren't you? I'm from the States, but next year I'm gonna move to UK for studying. So I'll be closer to my best friend; she's Italian, but right now she's taking a walk around on her own," she explained.

Dominic was looking at her, amused.

"What's so funny?" she wondered.

"You. Please, don't get me wrong. I mean, it's nice that you're chatting so freely. You know, it rarely happens to me," he explained.

"I don't find it so strange. It's just a matter of opening your mouth and making sounds, one by one, turning them into words. It's something very common, you know!" she laughed.

"So, my dear big expert of the art of articulating, could you explain to me how did your shoe remain stuck there?" he got curious.

"I had just left the Armani shop and I saw a man who was taking his dog out for a walk. It was a very beautiful Pekinese, so I couldn't resist and got closer to pet the puppy and… well, I should pay more attention where I set my foot!" she revealed.

"Do you like dogs?" he asked her, excitedly.

The girl was quickly moving up in his personal ranking.

"I love all the animals, but I have such a soft spot for dogs. Too bad I can't keep one," she explained.

"I have one. Here, take a look!" said Dom, as he showed her the pictures he kept in his mobile of him with his beloved doggy.

"Oh, my God! He's so lovely!" she squealed.

"His name is Hendrix and he's my baby. Unfortunately, I can't spend much time with him, but whenever I'm home he has my whole attention," he informed her, a little nostalgic. "I'm glad you didn't already see them. You know, it's pretty easy to find those pictures around the web," he stated, as he put his mobile in his pocket.

"Well, it's not that I search around the web, looking at every stranger's profile!" she replied, puzzled.

He was even more puzzled.

"So you don't know who I am, do you?" he wondered in awe.

"Of course I do: you're a very kind, pleasant guy who can be tender too, sometimes," Jessica answered, smiling at him.

_"And he's breathtakingly beautiful!"_ she added, but just in her mind.

After all, Dominic was lost in his thoughts, too.

_"She doesn't know me, she doesn't know Muse. Well, she said she's American and in the States we are everything but famous. Anyway, if she doesn't know me, I can be a normal guy for once. A normal guy who wants to court a beautiful girl which he likes a lot!"__  
><em>  
>Jessica's mobile rang. She answered immediately, without looking at the display.<p>

"Jess, it's me. You can't even begin to imagine what happened. I'm waiting for you at the dome cathedral. Hurry up, hurry up… 'cos I could pass out at any moment!" Gaia warned her, hanging up.

"Oh, God!" Jessica exclaimed, very concerned.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"I don't know. It was my best friend; she said it's an emergency. Maybe she doesn't feel very well... I gotta go!" she warned him, before running away, despite the shoes she wore.

"But.. wait!" he called her out, but it was too late.

_"My compliments, Dom, you suck when you play the normal guy! You let her go. I don't know anything about her, not even her name. How the hell am I supposed to find her again? Dammit!"_ he cursed, coming back to his hotel, disconsolate.

In the meantime, Jessica had reached her friend.

"Oh, my! You look so shocked! Did you see a ghost or something?" she asked her, worried, holding her, because Jessica was afraid that Gaia could collapse.

"Nope. Not a ghost. A Muse. I mean, a member of Muse. Their front man, for the record. I don't know where the hell I found the courage to do that, but I approached him, kept calm and... Oh, God! He told me that tomorrow I'll meet them all in the backstage after the concert, which means that... I'm gonna meet Dominic!" Gaia informed her, speaking excitedly.

No matter how much she liked him, Gaia wasn't the kind of girl that covered whole walls with pictures of her favourite artists, quite the contrary. She didn't have a single poster of Muse on her wall. That's why Jessica couldn't even begin to imagine what Dominic looked like.

"I'm so happy for you!" Jessica hugged her, cheerful. After all, she knew how much that guy meant to Gaia. "So there wasn't any emergency, I mean… saving the shock, you are fine!" she pointed out.

"It's just that I couldn't wait to tell you. By the way, are you sure you didn't change your mind about tomorrow? Come with me, please, we'll find a way to make you get in, too..." Gaia tried once again.

"No, dear, we already had that conversation. I won't come, but you must go, stick to your Dominic and have fun, honey, you deserve it!" she smiled at her. "Anyway, I would be gladder if you hadn't called me here. I have just met a guy..." she added.

"Oh, God! I'm so sorry, please, forgive me, I didn't know it. Well, maybe he's still there, go back to him!" Gaia incited her.

"I don't think so; probably he will be on its way home right now..." the other shook her head.

"I'm so, so sorry. Tell me, is he gorgeous?" her friend got curious.

"Damn gorgeous. Tall, blond... "

"I'm not surprised. Blonde guys are always beautiful!" Gaia smiled.

"The nicest thing is that he's a tourist, just like me, so I didn't feel like a fish out of water anymore!" the other went on.

"I know. And, once again, I'm sorry, I really am. Anyway, if he's a tourist, maybe he'll hang around here again, so maybe you'll meet him again!" Gaia comforted her.

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure. Probably it wasn't meant to happen!" Jessica sighed, unhappily. "C'mon, let's go back to the hotel and think about something else, such as how to dress you up for tomorrow. You have a very special date, my friend!" she added, turning to Gaia with a bright smile.

"Yep, I still can't believe it's true! Let's go back, also because I'm sure I saw a computer in the hall of the hotel. If it's so, there's someone I'd like to contact," Gaia explained, as they headed towards the underground.

-

That evening Muse had decided to remain in the hotel. After all, they had pretty much worn themselves out during the day. Matthew took advantage of that to check his mailbox, also because Tom had sent him some important attachments.

After checking them, he opened the document he was working on, but he ended up deleting everything he had written, even the title.

He had to write a new song to add as a B-side to the 'Hysteria ' single. It's not that he was late and Warner wasn't putting any pressure on him; they just said to him 'the sooner you manage to do that, the better.' Maybe, on second thought, Warner was putting a little pressure on him!

Anyway, Matthew knew that Italy would help him find inspiration and he was sure that during those two gigs in the country he would manage to write something worthy. Probably it wasn't the right evening to do that.

Since his laptop was already on, he didn't resist to the temptation of visiting the Muse message-board. He didn't have great expectations; after all, eternally-missed had told him she wouldn't be on-line during that week.

Matthew's main thought since he had arrived in Italy was that, somewhere there was eternally-missed too. He wondered if, during his afternoon around the city centre, he had walked the same path as her, seen the same things she had seen or if one of the tons of faces he had took a glimpse of was just her face. That had been his main thought until he had met the pretty girl at the music store. From that moment on, she had become his second main thought.

As he expected, he didn't see eternally-missed in the on-line users list. He didn't know why, but he logged in, anyway. He was stunned when he saw that there were two new messages in his inbox. He knew that the first message was the one eternally-missed had written him and he didn't manage to read it yet, but... what about the newest one?

_"I'm sure it's spam, or maybe one of those stupid announces from the admin,"_ he thought as he checked out the inbox.

He was happy that he was wrong, because even the second message was from eternally-missed: she wrote him a few hours before. He clicked on it, eager to read.

'Hi, End! Yeah, I know what I said, but I found a computer in the hotel, so I had to take advantage of that! You know, I miss you too much. I miss our chats about everything and nothing, our laughter, although we can't hear each other, our comforting words when one of us had a bad day... I miss you wishing me goodnight. We haven't heard each other for many days and they seem to last like years,' he read, softened.

'Anyway, there's a reason why I'm writing to you. Tomorrow is the big day, I'm going crazy only thinking about it!'

"So, she's here in Milan!" he figured out as he went on reading.

'But it's not 'just' for the concert. There's more and I'd really like to share with you the ridiculous luck I had, because, since you've been following them for much longer than me, I can't even imagine how much you crave meeting Muse.'

_"Oh, yeah, really! It's just the dream of my life!"_ he thought sarcastically, before concentrating better.

_"Wait. Why is she talking about meeting them... I mean, meeting us? What if she was..."_

Matthew almost feared reading the rest.

"_No, it can't be, it's just a coincidence, my imagination is playing tricks on me!" _he assumed, ready to read even the last part.

'Yeah, you heard me right. Tomorrow, at the end of their show, I'm gonna meet them, because... you will never believe me, but it was Matthew who promised that to me, I mean... I asked him to do that, very insistently, anyway... he accepted! Truth is that I casually met him and… oh, God, I shiver again if I think about it! Now I have to leave, I'll explain everything better, I'll let you know everything about the show and the meeting... if I don't die before because of the shock. Bye, End. A kiss.' Matthew finished reading, astonished.

He was still elaborating in his mind the last info.

_"Dammit, it's not my imagination... the girl I met this afternoon... it's eternally-missed!" _he realised, but he didn't know if he should be happy about it... or despair.

After all, she seemed to only have eyes for his best friend.

_"There's no justice in the world and there never was,"_ he thought, disheartened, hiding his face with his hands.

_"Hey, this is such a cool sentence! I should use it for one of our next songs,"_ he took a mental note.

Even in the saddest moments he managed to think about work. Anyway, analyzing the whole situation from another perspective, he came to other conclusions:

_"OK, she is crazy over Dom, but it's just a fan crush and fan crushes never involve true feelings. It's so much realer what there's between her and me, I mean... between eternally-missed and end_of_the_world... it's real, even if it's virtual. OK, it doesn't make sense, but the main point is that maybe I have some chances with her!"_ he cheered himself up.

_"Plus, this time she even remembered my name!"_ he noticed with a smile.

-

"Are you sure it's not too much?" Matthew wondered, unsure, as he left his dressing room.

"Oh, God! Bells, what the hell did you do? You seem a living flame!" Chris burst out laughing.

"I knew it! It's too much. I'm going to change!" Matt yelled nervously.

"No way! The support act is halfway finished, there's not much time left! Don't mind Chris, he's just a little envious," Dom comforted him promptly.

"Envious? Of what? Of his capability of wearing the most questionable stuff in the whole Universe? I don't think so!" the bassist remarked laughing.

"Don't listen to him. You are a brave guy who dares to do everything, that's it. And you look amazing, believe me!" the blond insisted.

"Really?" the front man looked for confirmations, more unsure than before.

After all, he wanted to be certain that he looked gorgeous because out there, in the crowd, there was a very special someone who he would meet again at the end of their show.

He examined himself in front of the mirror, starting from his red sneakers, going up to his red jeans matched with the new red jacket Dom had bought to him. He had fallen in love with it so badly that he decided to wear it immediately. Under the jacket he wore a white t-shirt with a coloured sketch in the middle. His red hair was the icing on the cake.

"Sure! After all, red has always suited you," Dom confirmed.

"OK, but there's a tiny difference between dressing in red and _becoming_ the colour red itself!" the singer grumbled, checking himself one last time.

At the very end, Matt was satisfied by his choice: he liked what he saw.

"Trust me, you're amazing and you're gonna break so many hearts. Anyway, you should know better than me, you have never had a plain taste!" the drummer made fun of him.

"I can't take lessons about plainness from someone who's wearing such showy, yellow pants!" the singers struck back.

"Showy, yellow pants that fit me like a glove!" the blonde stated proudly, as he arranged the collar of his green shirt with complicated doodles printed on.

"You're right," Matt recognised.

Chris stared at them, bored, as he looked at his white trousers and jacket with a black shirt. He had always liked simple, but elegant things.

"Ok, guys, stop playing the gay stylists! Both of you are hotties, happy now?" he exclaimed, making them laugh. "Now, let's think about the show. We have a crowd to drive crazy!" he incited his friends, infecting them with his enthusiasm.

They just had to wait for their show to begin.

TBC

Sowwy, no concert, you'll find it in the next chapter (with more stuff)

Some quick notes:

The sentence Matt thinks about for their next song (obviously) are from 'Soldier's Poem ', by Muse.

If someone of you read 'How did it come to this? ' already knows how much I love these jackets:

Matt

http :/ .net/gallery/ data/media/ 203/409724870_ e995409d90_o. jpg

http :/www. microcuts. net/gallery /data/media/123 matt_et_dom

Dom:

http :/i86. photobucket. com /albums/k93 / angellouise_ 2006/ mypictures002. jpg

http :/i129 .photobucket. com/albums /p214/ jeffstrodl/ lglp 1069 .jpg

Anyway, I really like thinking it's Dom who bought those jackets for them both (ok, end of the BellDom moment)

And whoever read that story of mine knows how much I love 'dressing them up ' for any occasion, showing you the pics.. and that's what I'm gonna do even in this story ;)

About Matt, you can easily picture the rest, this is the t-shirt under the blouse (just lovely!)

http :/ www. pausacaffe .net /wp- content /uploads/2010/04/ muse. jpg

This is Dom's wonderful shirt :

http :/ .v4. /4a2 /museforever 1305/ pics/171044204_ small .jpg

In conclusion, these are the very tender pics of Dom with his lovely Hendrix (*begins to aaawwwww* ) By the way, my beta, Liz explained to me that actually it was Jessica who posted those pictures, so.. please, let's pretend it didn't happen in this story, to make things work ;) :

http :/t0 dot /images? q=tbn: m5kQm8eot0_65M: http:/ userserveak. /serve /_/25718797/ Dominic% 2BHoward % 2BDominic2 .jpg

http :/ userserve –ak .last. fm/serve /_/ 25719723 /Dominic+Howard +2907545515_ 80b34f2aff. jpg

Hope you'll still like it, feel free to tell me everything, pleeeease do! ;)


	5. IV

first of all I want to scream…

HAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPYYYYYY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY,

MAAAATHHEEEWWWWWW !

You know, in Italy I posted a one-shot about his birthday, but I can't post it here, since it's the sequel of the sequel of the sequel of the 'how did it come to this ' series, lol!

However, I can update this one

Here's the new chapter, enjoy it! ^^

**Chapter IV.**

The concert was about to begin. Gaia was over the moon with joy, as she was making a mental note to buy a huge present for Jessica to thank her, for standing her and all her paranoia all day long, but mostly for helping her with the shopping, choosing for Gaia a wonderful dress.

She managed to find a very nice position, without suffering, pressed under the stage. She stopped in the first ten rows. She was in the middle because she had seen that the drums were placed in the middle, so she would see Dom better.

Finally, the lights were switched off as the whole Palavobis was filled with screams, applauses and cheers. After a few minutes, in a blaze of lights, smoke and special effects, Muse made their spectacular entrance.

They started with 'Apocalypse Please'. Matthew sat at the piano and began to play frantically, as did the other two band mates. They were the essence of energy.

"And this is theeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeend, this iiiiiiiiiis the end of the wooooooooooooooooooooorld mmmmmm… " Matthew sang the chorus, as intensely as ever.

Hearing those lyrics, Gaia smiled and thought about her 'virtual' friend.

_"I was sure I would find his answer, instead nothing. It's such a pity. Probably he is too busy with his job. I miss those days when we managed to chat almost every day. I miss his way of describing to me everything around him, I miss him. How can I miss someone I've never seen? I wonder if I'll ever manage to see his face, at least once. What the hell am I doing? I mean, here I am, at Muse's concert; it's my favourite band ever, it's the show I've been waiting for a life time, Dom is just a few inches from me and ... I'm thinking of the virtual guy? It's not normal!"_ the girl scolded herself, before concentrating on the music again.

The playlist went on with classic hits as 'Showbiz' , 'Cave', 'Sunburn ' and new songs, such as 'Stockholm Syndrome', 'Hysteria' and 'Time is Running Out, which drove the crowd crazy.

Matthew and Dominic attempted to speak Italian a little bit and that amused Gaia. They both were very funny, maybe Matthew was the funniest. Christ confined himself just to moving from one side of the stage to the other.

Before the last encore, they played 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' and during the bridge, Matthew drew everyone's attention, even Gaia's. The front man was engrossed playing the complicated and astonishing piano solo, before beginning the last verse. The whole thing was shot with a zoom and screened on the huge screen, but Gaia didn't need it, she was close enough to look directly at him.

To see him playing live, so concentrated, so enraptured by the music that he loved even more than his own life, to see the way his hands seemed to fly over the keys with such a quickness that seemed to be closer to divine than human, well…that impressed her a lot.

After that song, Muse left the stage and, as promised, came back a few minutes later for the last encore which included 'Muscle Museum', 'Bliss', which drove the crowd crazy once again, and 'Ruled by secrecy ', the song they chose to end with, and Matthew had another chance to show his incredible skills, both in playing the piano and singing.

Muse bid farewell to their crowd among screams, streamers and confetti before leaving. Lights switched on again and Gaia realised that the show was over for real.

Many people reached the exit, but she didn't. She knew what to do. She arranged her hair and her dress, before walking towards the security. The staff was already surrounded by tons of girls who were trying desperately to get into the security guys' graces, in order to get the "oh so craved" permission to reach the backstage area.

Gaia chose the guy with the most pleasant face and approached him, making him understand to get closer to her. A little bit confused, the man obliged.

"Hendrix," she whispered, keeping her voice low.

The man smiled at her.

"You're Gaia, aren't you?" he asked her and she nodded with a smile.

He made a breach for her and allowed her to pass.

From afar, she could clearly hear the comments of the other girls who had seen the whole scene, something like 'Why the hell is that girl passing?", "What the hell did that bimbo say to the security guy?", "Who the hell is she?" and stuff like that; people weren't so kind with their comments about her.

Gaia was amused by that. After all, to be envied gave her a little pleasure, just like when she got full marks at an exam at university. The difference was that now she wasn't aiming for high marks; she was going to make her dream come true. The corridor she was crossing seemed to never end. Another security guy went towards her, taking her near the dressing rooms.

"You can wait here. Now they're outside, signing autographs and talking with the journalists, but they're coming back in a few minutes," he warned her, going back to his position.

Gaia waited with palpitations, picturing the meeting in her mind with all the possibilities she could think of. After taking a look around, she realised that being in the backstage area wasn't the oh-so-exclusive event she thought it was, because there were many other girls. Some had been _very nice _to one of the security guys, someone who was the "daughter-niece-cousin-sister-close-friend" of someone important, someone who had just been very fast and clever and managed to get rid of the security.

All of a sudden, she heard some screams coming from outside; it was a sign of Muse's impending arrival. Gaia was almost petrified because of the emotion, but she calmed down a little bit once she realised who was coming first.

Matthew immediately recognised her from afar and he risked a heart attack: she wore a black jacket, which showed a grey, spotty dress with black ribbons on the straps, with a short, but not very short skirt, frou-frou style. Her hair was wild and free.

"_She's even more beautiful than I remembered!"_ he thought as he walked towards her, allowing himself just to smile and wave his hand at the other girls.

"Hey, you made it! The password worked fine!" he exclaimed.

"Hell yeah, you are a genius!" Gaia smiled at him. "Congratulations for the show, it was so wonderful, absolutely perfect, you guys blew me away!" she added, immediately after.

"Thank you. I'm glad you liked it," he smiled, passing a hand through his hair as he massaged his neck with the other hand, a little bit embarrassed. "You look amazing tonight," he managed to confess to her.

That comment was unexpected to the girl and caught her off guard. There was a sudden blush on her cheeks and that did nothing but make her look even more adorable to Matthew.

"Thank you. And you're so… red!" she answered back.

After all, he hadn't changed his outfit; he had just taken his blouse off.

"Well, yeah… I guess I overdid it a little bit," he grumbled, staring at the floor.

"But red is one of my favourite colours!" she added and he rose his eyes, locking his gaze with hers.

"_Oh, my God! What the hell am I doing? Gaia, this is called flirting. Stop it, stop it now!"_ she reprimanded herself, breaking the eye-contact that was making her feel dizzy.

After all, now that he didn't wear a baseball cap anymore, his bright red hair did nothing but set his astounding eyes off even more.

"What about the other guys?" she wondered.

It was a hard blow to Matthew.

"Chris, well… I'm sure he's at the counter, drinking. About Dom, he's outside, entertaining himself with the magazine girls; that guy is always mucking around!" he giggled, making the best of a bad bargain. "He should learn from me, I always spend my time in the best way ever. As a matter of fact, I'm spending it with you," he added, smiling and looking at her in a way that made her feel dizzy once again.

He should have forewarned her before staring at her that way.

"You're kind, but I'm afraid that your fans are going to kill you if you don't give some attention to them as well!" she advised him.

They were surrounded by tons of girls who waited patiently, or rather not so patiently, for him to finish talking to her, as they held diaries, CDs, books and every sort of things that could be signed. Someone was also taking pictures of him, also capturing Gaia in those photographs and Gaia had noticed that.

"I'll take the risk," he shrugged. "I could always throw Dom into their clutches, I guess that the girls wouldn't mind that at all," he added laughing.

"Gee, you're impossible! Poor Dom, and to think that you're best friends!" she giggled, slapping his shoulder playfully.

She didn't even realise how friendly that gesture was. It had just seemed so… natural to her.

"We _are_ best friends," he confirmed, realising that it was time for him to make the other girls happy since they were calling him more and more insistently. "And I'd go through fire and water for him," he added, on purpose, challenging her with his look, before reaching the other fans.

"_Did… did he really say… ? Oh, c'mon, Gaia, don't be so stupid. It's such a common expression, millions of people say that!" _she thought, a little puzzled, as she watched him leave.

Something had changed since their very first meeting the day before. There was something different about him, but she couldn't figure out what it was. All her thoughts dissipated in a cloud of smoke as soon as she saw Dominic coming in. He had changed his shirt, now he was wearing a leopard-print blue shirt with a black leather jacket.

Those clothes set his eyes off in an incredible way. Gaia could have spent the whole night watching them, trying to figure out what their colour was. As about Matt's eyes, they could become tinged with turquoise green, grey and the darkest shades of blue, but mostly they were prohibitively blue. Unconsciously or not, Gaia had noticed that too.

"_Oh, my God! He's so gorgeous!"_ the girl thought as she tried to reactivate her brain enough to receive the impulse of moving and going towards him. Finally, she managed to do that.

Dom immediately noticed her and walked towards her. The more he got closer, the more she was panic-stricken. Dominic realised that and seemed amused by it.

"Hey, sweetie, calm down. I swear that I don't bite. Well, if I'm not asked to," he joked with a mischievous smirk.

"Oh… god! Hi, Dom, I'm Matthew's girl, I mean, I'm the girl Matthew allowed to go to the backstage, I don't know if you know, if he told you…" Gaia babbled incoherently, in a total daze.

"Yep, he told me. You're my fan. Well, Matthew warned me it was a beautiful girl, but I didn't imagine you to be so beautiful!" he winked at her and she almost passed out

From afar, as he was engrossed in signing autographs, chatting with the fans and taking some pictures with them, Matthew was observing the whole scene. He said goodbye to his fans and decided to leave the room. It was way a too painful show for him.

"You know, Dom, you've always been my favourite," Gaia went on since she was regaining the capability of talking.

"Well, you certainly know what you want!" he struck back as he took a look around.

"_It's useless. If she doesn't know Muse, it's impossible that she can be here,"_ the man thought.

"Especially, I liked when you…" Gaia added, but he wasn't listening to her anymore.

No matter how beautiful she was, it was another beautiful, very beautiful girl who had been overtaking his mind since the day before. He had even come back to that street in the morning, but he wasn't lucky. He wanted to come back in the afternoon too, but he couldn't because of the soundcheck.

So, after the show, he talked with the journalist of the most important magazines abroad, asking them if there was the Fashion Week or something similar in Milan and then he described that girl in every single detail, asking them if they had seen her around or if she stayed at one of the hotels they were staying at.

He had decided that, since she was so beautiful, she couldn't be anything but a model.

Unfortunately, none of them could help him.

Dom couldn't understand why he was trying so hard to find her, to see her again. After all, he was always surrounded by tons of beautiful girls.

"_Then, why every time I close my eyes I see her face, her smile, I hear her crystalline laughter … and why am I missing her so damn much?" _he wondered, puzzled.

Then, his eyes fell on Gaia as she was still talking to him.

"_I need distraction. Yep, I must be the same old Dominic, coming back to my routine. I could start with her; after all she's so pretty! Yeah, she will help me forgetting… gee, I don't even know how to call her!" _Dominic made his decision, stopping Gaia with a gesture of his hand.

"Sweetie, you know, I have a free night tomorrow. Would you like to go out with me?" he suggested to her.

Gaia risked a fulminating heart attack.

"Y-y-you and m-me? Go-going ou-out? Together?" she stuttered, in disbelief.

"Yeah, why not? Just tell me where to pick you up," he exhorted her.

************************ (In the meantime)

Matt found Chris just where he had guessed he was: at the counter of the bar.

It was the private area; no one would disturb them there. The security guards were everywhere. Matthew approached his friend as he drank what certainly wasn't his first beer of the night.

"Bells, do you need to refuel, too?" Chris greeted him, raising his bottle.

"I guess I'll need something damn stronger!" he answered, upset, before instructing the barman.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked him.

"To begin with, the fact that a girl I'm interested in, something so rare that I don't even recall the last time it happened, is engrossed in making eyes at our dear Dom!" he explained as he took his drink from the bartender.

"Yeah, you told us that you met a fan of Dom's and you would bring her here tonight," the other recalled. "But you forgot to mention that you like her," he added.

"Well, if I forgot before, now you know it," Matt shrugged, sipping his drink.

"You know what? I don't think I'm so insignificant to her. I mean, yesterday it seemed that there was no chance at all; but tonight I noticed something. Too bad that when Dom arrived I stopped existing to her eyes!" he confessed, taking longer sips.

"So? Did you leave her in that heartbreaker's clutches? Bad move, Bells, really a bad move," Chris shook his head.

"What was I supposed to do? She practically asked me that!" Matt replied, desperate, finishing his cocktail.

"You're right, it was a difficult situation. Well, cheer up, you still have your virtual friend!" the bassist comforted him.

"Can you keep a secret?" the singer got closer to him.

The younger guy confined himself to nod.

"Actually, _she_ is my virtual friend. I found it out yesterday," he whispered in his ear.

His only answer, Chris burst out laughing.

"Bloody hell! I chose my best friends very well: one is the forbidden dream of all the girls I like and the other one finds my misfortunes amusing. I'm destined to be lonely, sad and misunderstood!" Matthew complained, way too dramatically.

No wonder that back in his school days he took an A* in Drama.

"Sorry, mate, I wasn't laughing at you. It's just that, c'mon, it's such an absurd situation!" Chris justified. "But... if you know it's her, what the hell are you waiting for? Tell her!" he exhorted him.

"You're kidding, right? I don't want her to be interested in me just because I'm her virtual friend. I want her to like me for who I am. I want to make it on my own," Matt replied.

"Why? The guy on the web it's you, isn't it?" the bassist asked him puzzled.

"Yes, of course it's me, but... it's different! I'm not going to tell her and neither are you!" the singer insisted.

"Gee, you're so odd!" Chris rolled his eyes.

"That's not true. I swear that despite the alcohol in my veins, it's a reasoning that makes sense," Matt assured him. "Now let's go back there. After all, you still have to meet her!" he added, dragging his friend away with him.

When they came back to the backstage, they found Dominic engrossed in saying goodbye to the last group of fans. There was only the security staff left, the technicians, the crew, Tom and Gaia who were chatting cheerfully.

"Here we go, now, with Chris, the circle is complete," Tom exclaimed as he leaded her towards his friends.

Gaia shook Chris' hand, smiling and congratulating him for their show.

"OK, guys, now I'm gonna ask you the queen of the questions," she announced, ironically, as Dom had also joined them. "Who is the leader among you?"

Matthew, Chris and Dominic stared one another, in a thoughtful silence.

"I am!" Chris answered firstly.

"What? But… you don't even talk in the interviews!" Matt observed.

"Yeah, you aren't even with us during the interviews, most of the time," Dom added.

"That's the point. A real leader doesn't need to talk," the youngest member justified.

"Oh, shut up!" his friends rolled their eyes, laughing with him.

"You know, they talk big, but everyone knows that the real leader is me!" Tom winked at Gaia, making her laugh.

"You know, we are going to celebrate in a club nearby, do you want to come with us?" Matt invited her.

He wanted to call her by her name, but it was way too difficult for him to pronounce it correctly.

"Uh! Thank you, really, I'd like to join your party, but I can't. It's already so damn late. I called a cab; it should be here in a minute. I have no words to thank you, I had such a wonderful night!" she smiled at him, getting closer to hug him and kiss his cheek.

This time it was Matthew the one who felt dizzy.

"Thanks to you all, guys. You are great " she turned to the others, smiling. "Well, Dom, see you tomorrow!" she added, before leaving and the blond nodded.

After the last check, Tom, Chris, Matt, Dom and the crew were ready to leave the Palavobis.

"Dom, what does it mean that she is going to see you tomorrow?" Matt asked him as they were leaving.

"I asked her out for tomorrow night," Dom explained.

"You WHAT?" the brunet blasted.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the blond asked him, disturbed by Matt's icy look.

"Dominic James Howard, we have to talk."

TBC

Evil cliff-hanger, I know *laughs proudly*

Hope you'll still like it, please, please, please, tell me what you think , even a word can make my day, weally! )

p.s. I'll update 'Just a little bit ' soon ^^


	6. V

Warnings about this chapter : BellDom hints, yaaaaaaayyyy!

**Chapter V.**

Dominic stared at his friend, puzzled. They rarely called each other by their full names and when they did it could only mean two things: they did that playfully or one of them had messed things up, pissing the other off.

Matthew's look was everything but playful.

"Wait for us, we will be back in a few minutes!" Matt warned Tom and Chris before grasping Dom's forearm rudely, dragging him back to the Palavobis that was utterly deserted by now.

"Chris, keep an eye on them. You have another gig on Saturday and I need Muse, all of them! I don't like what I saw," Tom stated, worried, and Chris obliged, following their friends from afar.

"So? What did I do wrong?" Dominic wondered, breaking free from Matt's grip as he examined his leather jacket: luckily for the pianist, it wasn't crumpled.

"You already know damn well what you did!" Matt hissed as they kept walking, until they reached the area where the stage was previously.

Since Dominic kept staring at him without a clue, Matt decided to make things clearer:

"Why the bloody hell did you ask her out?"

"So it was just that!" Dom chuckled, more relieved.

"You didn't answer my question!" Matt insisted, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, because she was there, she is pretty and I needed a distraction," Dom explained. "Why are you so bothered?" he asked Matt.

"Because Matt happens to fancy that girl much more than you do!" Chris decided to intervene.

"Hey! You shouldn't be here, to begin with," Matt snapped.

"Tom asked me to look after you. He felt a sort of tension between you two, so…"he explained.

"Well, Tom has nothing to worry about. It's not like I planned to pummel Dom's face," Matt stated.

"You would never manage to do such a thing," Dom pointed out.

"Don't challenge me!" Matt warned him with his best threatening look.

"Tom was right. There's so much tension between you two!" Chris commented, concerned.

"No tension. We are about to clarify everything. Excuse me, Bells, how the bloody hell was I supposed to know that you fancy her? Quite the contrary, it's you who suggested me to meet her," Dominic justified.

"She asked me that, because she is a big fan of yours. It was just too pathetic to tell you that I like her. It didn't seem so necessary; I thought that it would be over once you met her. You weren't supposed to ask her out," the front man protested.

"Gee, Matt, you should have let me know that. We always tell each other everything!" the drummer struck back. "Anyway, weren't you obsessed with that girl on the web?" he added.

Matt scowled at Chris.

"Don't you dare!" he threatened him, but it wasn't effective at all.

"Sorry, Bells, it's stronger than me, I can't help it," Chris replied, before giving Dom the juicy scoop. "_Gaia_ is 'that girl on the web'."

"Damn you, Chris, I asked you to say nothing!" Matt grumbled.

"You asked me to say nothing to her," the bassist corrected him.

"What? Is it her? Really? How do you know it?" Dom wondered, surprised.

"Doesn't matter how, the point is that I know it. So, if I already liked her, now I like her twice more!" the front man replied. "Anyway, Chris, this was supposed to be a private conversation between Dom and me!" he added, turning to the bassist.

"Bells, we are a band, never forget it. There shouldn't be any secrets among us. We are practically a family," Chris observed.

"Nope, we're not a family, we are like a flat: I'm the property manager, Dom is the rowdy tenant who is going to get an eviction order one of these days, and you, Chris, you're the porter, no doubt about that!" the singer joked, making the other members laugh with him.

Seeing that there was no tension anymore, Chris decided to leave them alone.

"So will I get an eviction order, eh?" Dominic repeated, acting insulted.

"Oh, c'mon, it was a joke!" the other shrugged, smirking.

"Anyway, Matt, if she is so important to you, I can step aside, it won't change my life…" Dom explained.

"No way! She wants you, after all," Matt shook his head.

"That's what she thinks. She is a fan, that's how it works: first they are all "I love you, I adore you, you are my life!" and a month after they feeling the same 'love ' for… I don't know, Green Day, Robbie Williams or any kind of boy-band popped out from God only knows where!" Dom explained to his friend.

"I don't care. I couldn't ever do such a thing to her. Plus, how am I supposed to go to her, what could I ever say? I can already hear her saying 'Excuse me, there must be a mistake. This is not the Muse I asked for!" Matthew struck back, saying the last part in falsetto.

What Matt said and the way he said it made Dom laugh.

"Well, first Muse was a block of flats, now we are a sort of pizza delivery?" he chuckled, making even Matt laugh.

"Jokes aside, really, Dom , this is the story of my life. I can't compete with you, I have no chance to win. Since the schooldays you have always been more successful at girls than me," the redhead stated.

"That's only because you have never believed in yourself. Look at you, even now that you're a famous rock star, the front man of a very popular band and there are tons of girls who are crazy for you, you act all shy and insecure, just like the young, introverted boy of ten years ago," Dom commented.

"They're just attracted by the ideal of the famous rock star, it means nothing. They're perfect for a night of sex, but nothing more. She doesn't belong to that category, she's different, but she wants you. Every girl I like always wants you," Matt sighed.

"If I was a girl, I'd certainly want you!" Dominic exclaimed, amazing himself because of what he had just said.

They stared at each other puzzled, in an awkward silence. That sentence made them both remember something that had happened a few years before, but they decided to ignore it.

"The point is that you should be more self-confident. You're such a good looking guy, funny, pleasant, you have plenty of talent, sensitiveness, intelligence and other good qualities that would make the list way too long. You just have to let people know you for who you are, open up a little bit," the blond comforted him, patting his shoulder.

"That's what I was doing with her. She is special. It doesn't matter what I want, but what she wants, and she wants a date with you," Matt insisted.

"So, are you really allowing me to take her out and… have fun with her?" Dominic asked for confirmations, astonished.

"No! Wait a minute. I know you damn well, so I know what you meant when you say 'to have fun'. No way! She is not a trophy to add to your shelf of conquests. I can't let you do that," Matt got nervous, staring at him as seriously as it rarely happened.

"So, what do you want me to do? To give her a ring and bring her in front of the altar?" the other replied sarcastically.

"HELL NO! That's even worse!" Matt snapped.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Dom wondered, puzzled.

"Be the good guy, for once. It's not so hard. You pick her up, you take her out, making sure she spends a very nice evening and then you take her home… WITHOUT DOING A BLOODY THING TO HER!" the redhead ordered him.

"Seriously? Does it really work like that when you ask a girl out?" the blond asked him in awe.

"Yep, when you really care about a girl, it works like that," Matt explained to him patiently. "So, will you behave?" he asked him.

"OK," the drummer shrugged.

"Fuck, Dominic, it's not going to work like this. You must give me your word. Swear to me that you will do nothing to her, swear it on our friendship!" Matt bided him, scarily serious once again.

But Dom was as serious when he nodded.

"I give you my word."

Matt turned happy-go-lucky, as usual, hugging Dom as they left.

"You know, Matthew, I understand what you mean when you talk about special meetings," Dom commented, as they reached the other people.

"Really? Hey, is there something that you haven't told me yet?" Matt realised.

After all, he knew very well that look of Dom's, the look he had whenever he was dying to tell him something.

"Well, actually, yesterday afternoon… "

********************************** (In the meantime)

Gaia arrived at the hotel. She got out of the taxi, leaving a very generous tip to the driver. She was so happy that she could almost kiss him. The girl entered through the back door and went upstairs as silent as possible. It was 1:00 a.m., after all.

She turned the key in the keyhole, pushed the handle down, opening the door, but when she crossed the threshold, she noticed that the light was on.

"Jess, are you still up?" she wondered.

"Hell yeah. Did you really think you could escape without giving me a detailed report of the night? C'mon, tell me everything," her friend exhorted her.

"You should have come with me, you, stubborn girl. You would have had fun, no matter that you don't know their music. The guys are such wonderful people, as well their manager and crew. Everyone has been so kind to me," Gaia exclaimed as she reached the bathroom to change her clothes

"You know, even the way I managed to reach the backstage area is very particular, I got closer to the security stuff and told them the password Matthew, the front man, chose for me. He suggested me to use the name of Dom's doggy. He's a genius, isn't he?" she kept talking from the bathroom.

"_It must be very fashionable to have a doggy nowadays," _Jessica thought.

"And the first person who walked towards me was right Matthew. We talked a little bit, he's been very nice. And then Dom arrived," Gaia went on, coming out from the bathroom, ready to go to bed.

"And?" Jessica asked eagerly, sat on her bed.

"I don't know, it was odd. I mean, cool, exciting and everything, but…" Gaia trailed off, sliding under the sheets of her bed.

"But?"

"I realised that I'm just a fan. I mean, saving how beautiful he is and how long I've been supporting his band, I don't think I told him anything else," she admitted.

"It's a more than normal reaction, emotion played tricks on you, plus, you were in front of your idol," Jessica justified her.

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, there's a kind of asymmetric relation with him, one-up, one-down , where he's obviously the one-up person. Instead… with Matthew it's different. He makes me feel at ease, it's such a strange but wonderful feeling. At the end I also met Chris, the bassist, he's very pleasant. I'm telling you, you should have come with me," Gaia repeated. "So what did you do tonight?" she asked her.

"Well, nothing special, I found a cinema where there were showed American movies in original language and then I took a walk around. It's very nice, there's even a big pet shop that remains open until late night," Jessica explained, softened.

"I'm so sorry for leaving you alone." Gaia apologised.

"Don't worry, the most important thing is that you had fun," Jess smiled at her. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" she wondered.

"For the morning and afternoon, whatever you want, of course," her friend answered. "But tomorrow night…"

"_Oh no, how am I supposed to tell her that I will go out with Dominic? If she finds out that I left her all alone once again, because of Muse, she won't even talk to me anymore,"_ Gaia realised, as she rushed to find a solution.

"You know what? On my way to the show, I met a girl who attended the course I did. Despite all my attempts to say no, she practically forced me to go tomorrow to a dinner with her friends. I can't stand her, so I don't even want to think about how her friends can be. So, in addition to the fact that you'd be miserable, I'm sorry, but no one there speaks English, either, " Gaia invented.

"Uh, no, thanks, I learned pretty quickly during the cultural exchange to realise that your mother language and I will never get along," Jess chuckled.

_"Oh no, I don't want her to feel guilty if she leaves me alone once again. I must invent something,"_ she decided.

"Jess, if you want, I can cancel my date, I mean meeting with them, although it won't be easy, but.." Gaia suggested.

"There's no need to do that. You know what? Tonight I met a group of people, very pleasant and they speak English, too. One of them left me her number, so I can organise something with them for tomorrow night," Jessica told her.

"I'm so sorry, Jess, I promise that I'll make it up to you," her friend stated.

"Don't worry, nothing big happened, we'll make up for wasted time. After all, there's still time left before Sunday," the other smiled.

"Right. OK, now we'd better sleep, otherwise it would be a big trouble to wake up in the morning," Gaia commented, switching off the light.

_"Lucky for me, she bought it. So she can go out, without worrying about me,"_ Jessica thought, relieved.

_"I'm the worst best friend on the whole planet,"_ Gaia reckoned, felling a very selfish girl, but a selfish, _happy_ girl.

-

Muse came back to the hotel at about 4.00 a.m., trying to be as silent as possible, but it wasn't something easy because of the euphoria that was typical after every show of theirs.

Everyone reached their room; Matthew changed his clothes, but before sleeping he turned his laptop on. Despite the tiredness and the alcohol in his veins, he was still conscious enough to do a certain thing.

-

In the morning, around 10.00 a.m. Gaia was ready, so while she was waiting for Jessica, she went to the hall, hoping that no one was using the PC. She was lucky.

After all, she had a mission, i.e. to inform everyone about her special night, from the closest friends and family, to the neighbours she rarely talked with.

When she was done, she went on the Muse message-board home page, logging in, but without great expectations. She was lucky once again. Her heart skipped a beat as she opened the message end_of_the_world had written to her, eager to read it.

' Hi. Sorry if I didn't answer before, but my job absorbed me. Did you really meet Muse? How was it? I want to know everything. But I am not writing just for that. Missed, do you ever have the feeling that what's between us goes beyond virtual?

You know, if I concentrate just a little bit, I manage to see you. I see you here, next to me, as you tell me what happens to you, as you laugh at my jokes, as you blush at my comments about you, as you make fun of me because of something. And then, we stare at each other, with a different light in our eyes, as we both realise that the mutual searching of a life time ended in that instant. My Missed, don't you think that it's wonderfully absurd and absurdly wonderful? I don't care if it's not real, that won't change how I feel about you. And I wish it's the same for you. A kiss '

Gaia had to recover as she read that message again and again.

"Oh, my God! His songs must be amazing if they're anything like the things he's just written to me. Maybe I'd rather go out with him tonight than with Dominic... gee, did I say it for real? What's happening to me? But how am I supposed to answer? I don't want to tell him just everything..." the girl meditated upon her response, before starting to type the letters, one by one.

-

After getting the more than needed rest, Matthew was in front of his laptop again, but this time for work. He was still working on the new B-side, but he realised that ' Ugly blond guy/ damn you/ girl-stealer, burn in hell!' repeated at least fifty times couldn't be proper lyrics... but it was liberating.

Truth was that he wasn't angry with Dom, not even with Gaia, of course, he was angry with fate, but he couldn't take it out on fate, of course.

Anyway, there was a huge mistake in the lyrics.

"_Dominic is everything but ugly…"_ Matt thought, as he deleted the whole file.

He was fully aware of Dom's charm. He had been one of his victims, too.

Because of the sentence that had slipped from Dom's lips at the Palavobis, Matthew started to recall a certain after-party almost three years before: that night both of them had drunk way too much, not so much not to remember, however, and, overwhelmed by a strange curiosity that had started years and years before, and feeling a slight attraction to each other, Matt and Dom had kissed.

It was an important, intense and desired experience, but there hadn't been any consequences, quite the contrary, they had become even closer friends, if possible. Their friendship was special, unique, hard to find anywhere else. It was too strong to be broken, not even if girls were involved.

Plus, that was the past. Now Matt was concentrated on the present, and in the present Dom was going to go out with Gaia and he just had to accept that.

_ (In the meantime)

"Gaia, I'm leaving, see ya later. Try not to get too bored," Jessica bid her farewell, leaving the room.

She had told Gaia that she would meet her new friends in front of the cinema at 9:00 p.m., but left half an hour early. There was only one problem: there was no new friend to meet.

_"Firstly, I'll go to the pet shop, those puppies always make me happier. And after that.. well, I'll find something to do,"_ she thought as she walked.

******************************************

Dominic was ready for his date, as he had chosen to wear the jacket he had bought two days before. The problem was that he had been too fast: he had told Gaia that he would pick her up at 9:00 p.m., now it was 8:30 p.m. and he was already in the street of her hotel.

He had taken a walk around to spend the time, but it was still too early. Taking advantage of the quiet of that street, he visited some shops nearby, until he saw a big pet shop that seemed well furnished.

"I'll take a look around, maybe I'll find something nice for Hendrix," he decided, getting in the shop.

He was looking at some collars, but when he lifted his gaze he saw something, or rather someone, that left him stunned.: there was the girl he had met two days before. She was there, in that shop, and she was looking at three Labrador puppies.

"Hey, I know those Jimmy Choos!" he exclaimed, getting closer.

Hearing that voice, Jessica turned, amazed and overjoyed.

"Hey, hello! I'd never thought that I would meet you again, here. Correction: I'd never thought that I would meet you again. Period," she added, smiling at him.

"Neither had I. At least, Cinderella left her shoe with the Prince, instead you disappeared, without a trace," he pointed out.

"I know, I'm so sorry for that! Anyway, it wasn't even the emergency I thought it was. But after that, I had no idea how to find you. You know, I even came back to the same place, yesterday afternoon, hoping you would be there, too," she admitted.

In Dominic's heart there was a private party.

_"I can't believe it, she looked for me, too!"_

"Really? You know, I did the same yesterday morning, in the afternoon I was busy, dammit!" he informed her and this time it was the girl's heart to throw a party.

"But finally we met, that's what really matters. I'm free tonight. So... are you free too?" she asked him, wavering as she toyed with a lock of her hair, staring at the floor.

Dominic didn't think twice before answering.

"Yep, I'm free, too!"

TBC

I know, this Dom is a little bitchy, isn't he? ;P

About Jessica, I don't know if she is really so fond for dogs, but I needed that for the story!

about the BellDom hint, hope you don't mind.. after all I'm a BellDommer, lol!

feel free to tell me everything, really, everything, don't be afraid, I can take it! ^^


	7. VI

**Chapter VI.**

"Can you give me just the time to accomplish my purchase?" Dominic asked her.

"Sure, I'll wait here," Jessica agreed.

Dom lied; after all, he was becoming good in that.

He had no purchase to accomplish, he just needed an excuse to drift away.

He left the shop and drew out his mobile, dialling a number so familiar that he didn't even need to search for it in the phonebook.

Matthew picked up the call at the third ring.

"What the hell do you want?" he barked rudely. It was a sign that he wasn't in a good mood.

"You've got to help me!" the blond imposed.

"If it's a 'you've got to help me' like ' I don't know where I can take her ', well, don't count on me, because I don't..."

"No, it's a 'you've got to help me' like ' I can't go out with her anymore! ' Dom clarified.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?" Matthew snapped, risking to damage forever the drummer's hearing if Dom hadn't wisely held the mobile away.

"Yeah, Bells, you heard it right. Everything changed and I have some good reasons to do that!" the blond insisted.

"The hell with the good reasons. Now you've got to explain to me every-bloody-thing!" the younger boy hissed.

"I've just met the girl with the shoe incident, remember? I told you about her. My special meeting. I thought there was no chance to see her again, so now that it happened I can't lose this chance!" the elder boy explained in a rush.

"So, tell me, as you try to fulfil your idyllic love dreams, what am I supposed to do?" Matt rolled his eyes.

Although Dom couldn't see him, he could easily imagine that.

"Well, you should... warn Gaia," the other instructed him, wavering because he could predict Matt's reaction.

"WHAT?" the redhead roared once again.

"Oh, c'mon, I can't leave her stranded and I can't go to her. Plus, I don't have her phone number. I have no idea about what to invent, find an excuse for me. After all, you have much more fantasy than me," the blond adulated him.

Silence from the other side.

"Oh, c'mon, Matt, try to understand. It's important to me, this girl is important to me. Please, please, please!" he added in the most begging tone ever.

There were some instants of silence and then Matthew talked, sighing in exasperation:

"You already know that I'm going to kill you next time I see you and then I'll search for a new drummer. Don't you?" Matthew threatened him with the most disquieting tone ever.

"Thank you so much, Matt! You're the bestest friend in the world!" Dom rejoiced and if only Matt had been in front of him, Dom would have hugged him tight.

"And you are the most ungrammatical friend in the world. C'mon, give me the address... " Matt exhorted him, accommodating.

The blond gave his friend all the necessary info and then he ended the conversation, coming back to the shop and reaching the girl who was so important to him.

"It's done. We can go," he warned her.

"Alright. But... where?" she asked him as they left the shop.

"The destination doesn't matter when the company is so good!" he smiled as he took her hand.

"Adulator!" she blushed. "If only I knew that I'd meet you again, I would have dressed myself better!" she confessed as she stared in disappointment at her skinny, white jeans and a simple, cobalt blue sweater with a boat neckline that set off her decolletage, revealed by her blue jeans jacket, left open.

"You're absolutely perfect!" he smirked at her.

"I repeat: adulator!" she chuckled. "Anyway, I guess that now it's time for an official introduction, don't' you think so?" she suggested, stretching her hand towards him.

"Yep. Nice to meet you, I'm... " Dominic started to reply, but then he stopped, remembering Matthew's tales.

"Wait. You know what? Please, don't think I'm insane, crazy or staff like that, but, you know, a friend of mine, my best friend, for the record, has kept for weeks, chatting and exchanging mails with the girl he likes, neither of them telling each other details about their private lives, such as name, location, job," he warned her. "Just like now you and I don't know anything about each other, saving the location. So.. would you like to follow their example? I guess it could be a funny game," he suggested.

"A game you said, didn't you?" she repeated, already liking the idea.

"Yeah, why not? It sounds exciting," he winked at her.

"It's not a bad idea. Ok, I agree, my dear unknown guy!" she approved with a bright smile.

*************************************** (In the meantime)

After insulting his best friend in every possible way, Matthew checked himself briefly in the mirror. After all, it was a quarter to 9:00 p.m., he couldn't waste time.

He wore a white t-shirt, white jeans and black braces. In order to enhance his elegance he added a black tie and, remembering how much Gaia liked that colour, he searched in his wardrobe for a red jacket to wear.

_"Yep, this is good. And as I'm on my way to her hotel, I'll think about something to say,"_ he decided, before leaving.

He arrived at 9:00 p.m. on the dot. He got out of the hotel shuttle that helped him to be on time, not before giving the driver a very generous tip.

He got in the Hall, where he knew Gaia was waiting for Dominic and he saw her, as she sat on one of the sofas. Matt went towards her.

The brunet swallowed heavily when he saw her in a long, icy blue dress, with a silver-edged neckline. Her hair was gathered up in a bun and she wore a silver necklace, matched with her silver earrings. She was radiant.

"_This girl keeps becoming more and more beautiful every time I meet her. Is she doing that on purpose?"_ he thought, dazzled.

"Hi, Goya!" skipped from his lips, since he was so agitated that he forgot his little problem with her name.

"Gaia… " she corrected him, giggling.

"Yeah. Sorry," he blathered, as he cursed himself.

"Anyway, hi. It's just that… I didn't expect to see you here!" she greeted him with much more excitement than she planned.

"I know, you were waiting for Dominic, but I'm here to tell you that…" Matthew started to explain, sitting next to her.

"He's not coming," she concluded the sentence for him, a little upset, but not so much, after all.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Truth is that… he's sick," he said.

"Oh, no! You'll have to delete your gig on Saturday," she stated.

"Uh? No, it's not that kind of sickness. Dom just needs a day of utter rest and he will be as good as new!" he assured her.

"Oh, really? How can you be so sure?" she questioned him as she started to be suspicious.

"Trust me, I know, Dom usually has this kind of… temporary indispositions," he insisted, showing the first signs of weakness.

"You know if you were as good in writing, singing and playing songs as you are good in telling lies, well… you wouldn't sell a CD!" she stated.

"Hey!" he acted insulted, before analyzing her sentence better. "Oh, wait. It was a compliment," he rectified.

"Yes, it was, at least for the most important part. Bonus point for you. You know, I'm studying psychology and your body language was betraying you pretty much. So, why don't you tell me the truth now?" she urged him.

"Truth is that sometimes my best friend can be such a dickhead!" he revealed, making her laugh. "Really, I can't understand how he can prefer someone else to you, but it's happened and he acted without even thinking!" he explained, rolling his eyes.

"Well, maybe it wasn't fate, but it's not the end of the world, after all," Gaia, commented, pausing for some seconds, because her choice of words made her think about a certain someone.

"Really?" Matthew asked her, very pleased by her reaction, which was not so desperate as he pessimistically thought.

"It's just that.. phew! I had told almost everyone that tonight I would go out with the drummer of Muse.. now what am I supposed to say?" she snorted, concerned about the possibility of making herself out to be a liar.

Matthew made his decision, determinately and resolutely.

"Well, you could tell them that you went out with the frontman of Muse!" he suggested, winking at her.

"What?" she stared at him in wonder.

"A beautiful lady should never ever be left alone. Tonight I'm free and I would be honoured if you kept company to me," he smiled at her.

"I thought you had come here just to warn me," she murmured.

"Is it a 'No' ?" he wondered, upset, as he stared at the floor, not facing her gaze.

The sight made Gaia melt and she was even more eager to give him the answer she had already planned to give.

"I didn't say that," she smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Hearing her words and feeling her touch, Matt abruptly lifted up his gaze and turned to her, making the girl take another unexpected dive into those amazing blue eyes that now were sparkling happily.

"Lucky for me. You know, tonight you're wonderful in that dress. I mean, you would be wonderful even without it. No, sorry! Uh! I meant... with another dress, any other dress!" he got nervous and that amused her a lot, so much that she laughed.

"You already made me laugh twice in a few minutes. Another bonus point for you!" she smiled at him, skimming his hand.

"The point is that tonight you can't remain here all alone. The world must see you. Or at least a part of it," he stated, getting up and stretching his hand towards her. "Come with me," he added.

She accepted, both his invitation and his hand, taking her white jacket and following him.

*************************************************** (In the meantime)

As a proper gentleman, Dominic helped Jessica to get out of the taxi. They took a walk through the shopping arcade, which was too crowded for Dom to be recognised by someone. Finally, they reached the Savini, one of the most famous and elegant restaurants in the whole town. Dominic had a reservation there.

They sat at their table, next to a window that gave a full view of the cathedral dome. Jessica could have stared from that window for hours, but not only that, the whole restaurant was beautiful, from the furniture to the elegant, refined atmosphere.

"Isn't it too expensive?" Jessica whispered at Dom a little worried, as a waiter gave them the menu.

"If it's for you, nothing is too expensive," he smiled at her,

"Stop being such an adulator!" she pretend to scold him, slapping playfully the hand he was trying to stretch towards her hand.

"I'm not adulating you, it's the truth," he declared as he was reading the menu, trying to interpret the Italian one without watching the English version.

"But you don't even know me!" Jessica made him notice.

Dom lifted his gaze from the menu.

"It doesn't matter. I already have this feeling," he stated, holding her hand.

Jessica confined herself just to stare at him, without striking back.

"But you're right, we should know each other better. You, first. What are you doing here in Italy?" he asked her.

"I paid a visit to a friend of mine, my best friend. Anyway, it's not the first time I'm in Italy. I've lived here for three months a couple of years ago because of a cultural exchange, but after coming back home, I forgot everything in less than a week. Their language is just too hard to learn," she explained, snorting.

"And you tell me that! I mean, yesterday , just to make me say 'draw out your mobiles' in Italian, I've been with a teacher for more than a hour," he revealed to her.

"Why did you have to say that sentence?" she asked him curiously.

"Because of my job."

"And which is your job?" Jessica wondered.

Dominic was about to answer her, but then he stopped in time.

"Ah-ah, you, smart girl. Don't you remember our little game? No private details," he reminded her, and then he realised that some girls sat at a table nearby kept staring at him insistently, and now they seemed to have recognized him.

Before they got closer to him, he decided to anticipate them, in order to prevent Jessica from seeing the whole scene.

"Uh, excuse me, I think I saw some dear friends of mine. I just want to greet them, I'll be right back," he warned her as he got up and reached the girls at their table, gesticulating to them to keep quiet.

Jessica leant from her chair to take a sight of him. She saw him talking and hugging the girls and it was more than okay, but when he saw him taking pictures with them and signing stuff, she became suspicious.

"_They are not his friends, that's not the way you act with a friend. They mostly seem to be his… fans. So he must be famous, maybe he's an actor. Oh, no. Wait a minute. Gorgeous. Blond. English. With a doggy. Oh, God, what if he is…? No, it can't be, it can't be just __**him**__!" _she started to figure out, shocked.

She searched for her mobile in her bag. There was only one way to find that out.

Matthew observed Gaia, amused, as the girl kept staring in ecstasy at every corner of the place, awe in her eyes. Taking her to his hotel was a good idea. After all, Prince of Savoia was one of the most prestigious hotels in the whole town.

Gaia was analysing every detail of the dining room, from the sumptuous drapes to the opulent and sophisticated decorations of the table, from the chandelier to the wonderful view of the garden that the French windows let her see.

"So, do you always stay in such elegant places?" she wondered.

"Yeah, during the bigger part of the year," Matt answered.

"You're so lucky!" she sighed.

"But you have no idea of the horrible hovels and ill-famed alleys we slept in during the beginning. Something like 'Please, God, let us wake up alive tomorrow! '" he chuckled, but then he became serious. "Anyway, trust me, there's no more beautiful thing than lying lazily at your house, without doing anything, maybe with someone special by your side," he added, throwing at her one of those look that made her feel dizzy.

As a matter of fact, Gaia blushed. The guy moved the chair aside for her gallantly, and let her sit at their table, before sitting in front of her. Matthew started looking through the menu, in the same playfully way Dom did, but the brunet also tried to pronounce the strange names of the dishes. Gaia laughed, amused, as she tried to teach him the correct pronunciation. Suddenly, she received a text message on her mobile and she stared at it in confusion. Matt noticed that.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing. It's just that my best friend can be so weird sometimes. I don't know why she wants to know so badly the password you chose for me yesterday," she explained as she satisfied her friend's strange curiosity, answering the message.

"Hendrix. Why?" Jessica read, very hesitantly. "Oh, no. Dammit!" she cursed as Dom was coming back to their table.

"So, what were we saying?" the blond resume talking.

"Game over. I've finally realised who you are: Dominic from Muse," she cut him off.

"Oh, so, you know me!" he smiled at her a little bit surprised.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not find that out this way," she murmured as guilty conscience was tormenting her.

"Okay, so now I have the right to know both your name and what you do," Dom struck back.

"You're right. I'm Jessica, I'm a student… but I'm also someone who shouldn't be here," she said, before running away.

TBC

This is a big mess, isn't it? ^^ 

Okay, dear people, we reached half-story so far, more or less ;P

Just a little note:

It's true that at the beginning Matthew couldn't pronounce Gaia's name properly and sometimes he called her 'Goya '… lol, this is soooo cute!

Picture's time, yaay!

This is Matt's (awesome) jack_et :_

http :/img53 .imageshack .us /img 53/ 6989/ fattokerrangci9. jpg

Savini (the restaurant where Dom and Jess are):

http :/ ww w. savinimilano .it /sites /all/themes/zen/zen/images /img-gourmet2 .jpg

Prince of Savoia (the hotel Matt takes Gaia to) :

http:/ ww w .hotelprincipedisavoia. com /uploads/images /headerImages/Meeting_ Banchetti. jpg

Hope you'll still like it, but feel free to tell me everything, as always.


	8. VII

**Chapter VII.**

Dominic immediately followed her.

"Jessica! Jessica, please, stop!" he reached the girl, blocking her way.

He could call her by name, finally.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, confused.

"My best friend is crazy for you, I can't do that to her!" she clarified.

"But I'm not crazy for her. I don't even know her!" he tried to explain her.

"Of course, you know her. You met her yesterday, in the backstage," she informed him.

"I've met tons of girls yesterday in the backstage. But there wasn't the only girl I wanted. I wished for you to come there, until the last second," he confessed, trying to hold her hand, but she withdrew it.

"No, no, NO! I just can't do that, Gaia doesn't deserve it and…"

"Wait. Did you say Gaia?" Dom startled.

"Yep. See? You do know her!" she made him notice, more and more nervous. "How am I supposed to do such a mean thing to her? Just tonight as she is having a boring dinner with some people from her university which she can't stand…" she went on, but stopped when she saw that her listener burst out laughing.

"Dominic! What's so funny about it?" she asked him, puzzled.

"Oh, please, repeat. Where did she say she would be now?"

"She is having dinner with some friend from a course, something like that," she babbled, more and more confused.

"Wrong answer, my dear. Tonight Gaia was supposed to go out with me," he revealed.

"What?" she wondered, shocked.

"You heard me right. Yesterday I asked her out, but only because I thought I would never see you again. So I needed a distraction, for there was someone who I couldn't take my mind off of: you," he admitted. "Anyway, trust me, nothing would happen between Gaia and me, I would just take her out, nothing more," he added.

"_Also because I promised it." _

"Oh, god, that's even worse. I spoiled your date with Gaia. You stood her up because of me. She will never forgive me, _I _will never forgive myself," Jessica replied.

"How can you do that?" Dominic asked, fascinated.

"Do what?" she wondered, doubtful.

"Be so altruist. You always set your friend above everything, even above yourself. Just like the first time we met, am I right? You hurried away because of her, didn't you?" he figured out.

"Yeah, I thought she was sick," she justified.

"See? Even now you're not seeing things from the right perspective: you have nothing to blame yourself for. First of all, she wasn't Miss Fairness with you, she lied to you. So, don't you want to take a little revenge?" he tempted her as the most persuasive devil.

"But…"

"Plus, I give priority to you, I met _you_ first and I wanted to ask _you _out. You are the only one I really want," he whispered.

The girl's legs became weak.

"Dom, I don't know if… " she wavered, but he wasn't listening to her words, he was staring at her eyes, which gave him hope.

"Jessica, please, I'm asking for only one night out with you. A bunch of hours to get to know you better, because there's something in you that attracts me inexorably. You don't know me, so you can't know that, but I'm telling you: I have the fame of a playboy and a heartbreaker, but tonight I want to prove you that even I can be a good boy, if you give me the chance. What do you say?" he asked her seriously.

She looked seriously at him too, but then she showed him one of those bright smiles that made him crazy.

"I say that the waiters will start to hunt us if we don't come back!" she winked at him.

He took her hand, leading her back to the restaurant.

"Wait a minute. At least you should warn Gaia that…" she pointed out, still fighting with her conscience.

"Don't worry, I asked someone to do that for me."

*********************************** (In the meantime)

The certain someone Dom asked that favour was busy pouring red wine in Gaia's glass, as they were about to enjoy the first course. They had lots of things to talk about and Gaia was almost shocked by the way Matthew made her feel at ease. There was a special chemistry between them, but it wasn't such a new sensation. She had already felt like that.

_"With someone that I haven't ever met, for the record!"_ she reckoned.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed yet the glass Matt refilled, but after a couple of seconds she did.

"What? No way, you're crazy. This is already the third glass," she exclaimed.

"Exaggerated. It's only the second glass. Anyway, it's not that you have to drive back home," he smiled at her.

"That's true, but it's not a good reason to get me drunk!" she struck back.

"A few glasses of wine haven't ever killed anyone, it just makes you appreciate more this evening," he explained, raising his glass and inviting her to do the same.

"Then I don't need wine, I'm already appreciating this evening. A lot," she smiled at him.

"Aww, that's so nice of you," he smiled back at her, clincking her glass with his.

_"Okay, I'm flirting with him. Again!"_ she realised, but this time she didn't scold herself.

Truth was that she liked him.

She had paid so much attention to Dominic during those years that she hadn't ever taken her time to notice how fascinating Matthew was with his magnetic gaze, his smile that showed that cute crooked tooth. Plus, there were his unreadable expressions, his contorted thoughts, which he exposed as his elegant hands, with long and tapering fingers, gesticulated frantically. His skinny constitution only made him look cuter. She liked even his very showy hair.

Matthew noticed that she was staring at him intently and that made him feel embarrassed.  
>That's why he rushed to find any other topic of conversation.<p>

"So did you like the show yesterday?"

"Sure. I told you that it was wonderful," she answered.

"Did you notice that during 'Hysteria' I played a longer riff than in the album version?" he asked her.

"Nope, but I noticed how energetically Dom played that song," she commented with an ecstatic expression.

"Did you see when I played the piano?" he tried again.

"Nope, but I saw when Dom played the snare drums," she struck back, with dreaming eyes.

Matthew didn't want to give in.

"Did you see when I jumped on the amplifier at the end of 'Small print'?"

"Nope, but I saw when Dom drank the water!" she replied. "Uh! So it was you the guy on the amplifier!" she added, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"Of course it was me, who did you think it was? Dom?" he snapped a little exasperated.

"No, I thought it was Chris," she informed him.

"Oh, please. Chris?" Matt despaired.

Gaia burst out laughing.

"C'mon, I was kidding. It was a joke even before," she revealed, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I noticed everything: riff, piano, athletic jump. Everything," she added, winking at him.

He smiled at her relieved, in an awkward way that she was beginning to adore.

If first it was only an impression, now she was sure: by then Dominic was just a memory.

******************************** (In the meantime)

The dinner was going on also for Dominic and Jessica, among chats.

"What kind of music do you like?" he asked her, as he filled her glass with white wine.

"Not much rock music, only something from Aerosmith, R.E.M:, U2. I love mostly R&B and hip-hop. I'm a good dancer, you know?" she smiled before drinking.

"Oh, I'm sure you are!" he purred with such an intense gaze that he could x-ray her and that made her feel a little bit embarrassed.

"Anyway, I'd like to see you in action," Jessica changed topic, but she immediately realised the double-meaning that sentence could have. "Playing, I mean!" she added in a rush, making him giggle.

"Nothing easier than that. Come to our show on this Saturday, at Bologna. It's just a couple of hours from here, please, come!" he invited her.

"I don't think if it's a good idea. Gaia... " she wavered.

"Where's the problem? Take her with you," he shrugged.

"You know better than me where the problem is!" she insisted, before he took her hands in his.

"Jessica, I already explained you that you're doing nothing bad. You are just thinking about yourself, for once. It's fair," he commented, showing her one of his warm smiles that could melt icebergs. "Please, Jess. I'll think about everything. I'll send a Limousine to take you there and take you back," he insisted.

"Well, I can't say no to a Limousine," she reckoned, breaking free from his grip, once she realised that he was still holding her hands.

"So, it's that. You're doing it just for the Limousine!" he complained, a little bit disappointed.

"I was just kidding, you, Mr-Give-Me-Attention!" she chuckled.

"Hey!" he acted insulted. "No, wait, that's true," he admitted with a smirk that made him even more irresistible in Jessica's eyes.

"So, do you accept?" he looked for confirmation.

"I'll find the way," she promised.

"Dominic, the dinner is about to end. How do you plan to carry on this night?" the girl wondered.

"Contrary to what you think, I'm not going to take you to a club in the middle of the town, it would be too crowded, the fans would bother us... although it's a pity, since it would be the perfect occasion to see you dancing," the blond commented, making her smile.

"Instead, I was thinking... nearby there's a very nice castle with a wide park. Since it's not very cold outside, would you like to take a walk there? It would be quieter," he suggested.

"Alone. In a park. With you?" she teased him, staring at him with fake diffidence.

"I promised that we'll only look at the starry sky!" he assured.

"Too bad that there's not even one star in the sky tonight," the girl made him notice, pointing at the window.

In order to take a look, he leaned closer to her, sniffing her black, soft and smooth hair, inhaling deeply the good smell of green apple shampoo. It was something that made them both shiver.

"Yeah, you're right. It's cloudy. Well, we could always pretend that there's a starry sky to look at," the guy suggested.

"I like the idea, but.. are you sure I can trust you?"

"May a lighting hit me if I don't act like a good boy!" he swore.

"Dom, it's just cloudy, no thunderstorm, so no lighting," she pointed out, amused.

"So this gives me the chance to misbehave... a little bit?" he winked at her.

"We'll see..." she smiled.

******************************************

"Ghiaia… " Matt tried again.

"No, it's wrong. It's not even Giaia. It's G-aia!" Matt tried so hard to pronounce her name, but Gaia insisted in a gentle way.

"Listen. It's like a G plus the typical cry you give out when you hurt yourself," she explained to him.

"G-ouch?" he stared at her in confusion.

"Oh, right. You Englishmen don't say 'Ahia' like we do!" she recalled, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he apologised.

"For what? After all, it's funny," she smiled. "Anyway, it's not such a difficult name. More or less in English means 'Joyful'," she explained him.

"Can I call you Joyful?" he dared to ask innocently.

"No, of course you can't. I mean… it's as if I called you Matteo," she protested.

"Mot-tio. Mat-teo," he repeated, laboriously. "Matteo. I like it," he approved.

"But I don't like Joyful, so there's no deal," she insisted.

"_I'd better not reveal him what my surname means in English…otherwise he would call me 'Big Chickens' all night long!"_ she took a mental note.

"I promise that sooner or later I'll learn to pronounce it correctly," Matthew hereby swore.

"Anyway, you learned Matteo pretty fast!" she teased him.

"I know, but your name has so many vocals, all united… it makes it hard for me to say it," he justified.

"I thought your main problem was the 'r '" she made fun of him.

"That happens just once in a while!" he protested, pretending to be insulted. "Well, well, you're terrible. No, wait, that's better : you'we weally a tewwible, heawthless giwl!" he added on purpose, making her laugh and laughing with her.

"So how can I call you for now? I guess that Goya is not the pwoper choice," he reckoned.

"Nope, definitely!" she confirmed.

"What about 'sweetie'? If I'm not wrong, Dom used to call you that," he proposed.

"Yeah. Sweetie is OK," she approved, forcing the need to add that she liked even more if it was Matt to call her in that way.

"So, sweetie will be," he smiled, caressing her cheek, as they stared deeply into their eyes, golden hazel into blue ocean.

"Anyway, don't you find it funny?" Matt chuckled.

"What?"

"I can't pronounce your name and you can't remember mine," he made her notice.

"Hey, I remember your name perfectly, _Malcolm_!"

He showed her the most upset look ever, but she burst out laughing.

"C'mon, I was joking, Matthew!" she smiled.

"You like joking way too much!" he protested.

"It's just too much fun to see how you believe it every time I do it!" she struck back.

Among chats and jokes, their date ended. Matthew took her back to her hotel, thanks to the driver that had helped him before. Matthew got out of the shuttle bus and helped Gaia to get out, walking with her towards the hall.

"I spent a wonderful night. Thank you so much!" she smiled at him.

"Thank you for spending it with me," he smiled back at her, unsure about what to do.

He tried to get closer and bend over her, but just confined himself to stare at her.

She smiled, figuring out what his intentions were.

"I'm sorry, Matt, but... _your time has run out,"_ she sang, changing the lyrics on purpose. "I hope that next time you will be more determined!" she added, wrapping an arm around his neck and kissing him softly, at the left corner of his mouth.

"Goodnight, Matthew," she murmured, greeting him.

"Goodnight, sweetie," he smiled at her, a little bit confused, waving his hand until he saw her disappear behind the sliding doors.

Ten minutes after, the gorgeous Englishman was already back in his room. It was only a quarter past midnight, but Chris was already in Dream Land. Dom still had to come back.

So, in order to waste time as he waited for his best friend, Matt turned on his PC, visiting his beloved forum.

He logged in, only for curiosity, and he noticed a private message, a message that eternally-missed had sent to him that morning.

He opened it, craving to read it.

'Hi End, I missed your messages so much! How can I sum everything up? To meet Muse was… incredible. Really, I didn't feel like in the presence of famous rock stars (OK; maybe just a little bit at the beginning), I mostly felt like at some of my friends' home. Everyone is nice and kind, but the person who made me feel at ease the most was Matthew.'

The guy smiled, before reading the rest.

'About what you wrote to me… you left me speechless, astonished, shocked. Oh my, you must be such a great songwriter! Yep, I have the same feeling, I can't even explain why, but it doesn't matter. You know, today I should be overexcited, but you won't like what I'm about to say: the point is that tonight I'm going out with a guy who I didn't even dare to think that I would approach one day since he's surrounded by beautiful women. I've spent years having a thing for this guy and now that he finally, unexplainably, pays attention to me, well… I'm not so sure anymore about what I want.'

Matthew startled as he kept reading.

'Did you ever have the feeling that once you get something you have been wanting for a lifetime, you realise that it's not so important as you thought it was? Because that's the way I'm feeling. I mean on the one hand I'm happy, it's exciting and everything…. but on the other hand… I can't help thinking about you, about the wonderful things you wrote me. Anyway, there's more.

You now, since yesterday I'm thinking about this guy's friend too, and they are best friends. To think that a couple of days ago I barely paid attention to him, but now… I have a one-track mind, I keep remembering the moments I spent with him, his gaze, his words…

Sure, now you'll be thinking that I'm the most superficial girl on this Planet, I mean… I'm so puzzled because of… three guys! On second thought, I guess it's only two of them, after all.. and one it's you. You're free to think whatever you want about me, I don't care. You're important to me. Whoever you are.

I hug you and I give you a puzzled kiss. Yours. Missed. '

Matthew had a dumb smile plastered on his face for at least two minutes by then.

"_So… she cares about me!"_ he exulted before, as punctual as a Swiss watch, his paranoia popped out.

"_Well, it was this morning. Maybe tonight I fucked everything up,"_ he started to dread.

Gaia was ready to go to sleep. What was the problem? She didn't feel like sleeping, not even a bit. She still felt the adrenalin because of the night she had spent. Plus, Jessica still had to come back and she wanted to wait for her awake. She put on a sweater and went down in the hall.

After all, it was only half past midnight, people were still awake, so she would annoy no one if she had used the PC. There's no need to say what webpage she searched for. She checked it out fast, but when she noticed which user was on-line, she didn't waste any time.

'Eeeeeeeeeeeeeend! I can't believe it! Is it you, for real? ' Matt read, seeing the private window chat with eternally-missed popping out.

He smiled before jumping to a conclusion: that was the perfect chance to know the truth.

'Hey, Missed! Yep, it's me, it's hard to believe, I know. Anyway, I don't have much time,' he answered.

After all, it was the truth. His time was running out and he still had to compose the new song.

'I haven't much time, either,' he read her answer.

One more reason to ask what he was dying to know.

'So, tell me, how was your special date?' he asked her.

Those seconds of waiting seemed to last for ages for Matt as he pictured in his mind all the possible answers.

"_That's it. Now she'll reveal that the night was a total disaster, because the cool guy dumped her and she was forced to spend the night with his friend that proved to be a clumsy, nerdy loser. Or she is going to say that she spent a horrible, boring night,"_ he thought as he stared at the screen, waiting for her to complete her answer.

After all, Gaia could have said to Matthew that she had been fine only because she wanted to be kind with him; but now she wasn't talking with Matthew, she was talking with end_of_the_world, so she could tell him how things really were.

When her answer appeared, his paranoia melted like snow in the sun, and the previous dumb smile came back on his features.

'It was simply perfect,' she wrote him.

Matthew felt accepted. Matthew felt beloved. Matthew felt… _eternally missed._

He greeted her and, even if unwillingly, he logged out and left the forum, opening a blank page.

Finally, he knew how to fill it.

TBC

A few notes:

- This is utter fiction: in real life, when Matt and Gaia first met, she didn't speak English at all, lol!

- Ghiaia means 'gravel ' , so it's not the nicest way to call a girl, lol. Plus, that's true, in Italy we say 'ahia ' when we hurt and somehow Polloni really menas 'Big Chickens ' , lol!

- About Jessica, I invented everything about her taste in music. And the apple shampoo is something I stole from a blink-182's song ('Apple Shampoo ', for the record. ;).

Hope you still like it, feel free to tell me everything.


	9. VIII

Warnings: BellDom hints ! ^^ 

**Chapter VIII.**

A smiling Gaia read again the last message end_of_the_wolrd had left for her before leaving.

'Unwillingly, but I have to go. Hope to hear from you soon. About what you wrote to me this morning, don't be afraid: I have only good thoughts about you. A kiss. Yours. End.'

Still smiling like an idiot, the girl logged-out, left the forum and turned the PC off, coming back to her room. Anyway, if she recalled what had happened a few hours before, she could smile because of something realer and more achievable, no matter if, paradoxically, he was the frontman of a band that was having a worldwide success.

She took the bag that was on the trolley, where she had already packed her stuff for the next day. She drew out her mobile and analyzed the whole phone book. She had seen Matthew taking her mobile and playing a little bit with it, before giving it back to her. That made her pleasantly suspicious and she realised she was right when she came across the letter 'C '.

As a matter of fact, among the usual contacts, there was a new entry, with an English dialling code, registered under the name 'Call me'.

Once again, Gaia smiled, amused by the unpredictability of that guy, since he could register more logically, under the letter 'M ' or 'B'.

It looked like Matthew didn't fancy too logical things. Neither did she.

She didn't waste any time and decided to use that number.

************************************* (In the meantime)

Matthew was all engrossed working on his laptop. Words were coming out with an astonishing easiness. He was writing the chorus and he had reached that point with such a naturalness that he was almost scared by it. Suddenly, the ringtone of 'Bohemian Rhapsody ' by Queen warned him that he received a text message.

He looked at the display and smiled. It was an unknown number, with a dialling code, that, during those days, he had learnt that it was Italian. As he read the message, the wonderful feeling he already had grew stronger.

"I don't know exactly how full the agenda of such a famous rockstar like you is. Anyway, if because of an odd, positive alignment of stars, you have a free day, would you like to accompany me back home? You know, tomorrow (no, wait, by now it's today!) I go back to Como, it's not very far from here. I'd like you to see my town, I guess you would enjoy it. Please, let me know. A kiss. G... no, wait, sweetie.'

He chuckled at the last part, saved the number and then he searched in his phone book for another number, since he knew that he didn't have a free day. It was only half past midnight, it wasn't so late to call him. Anyway, even if it was, he didn't care. After all, managers never rest.

Tom answered at the fifth ring.

"What's wrong, Matt?" he wondered quietly.

After all, he was more than accustomed to Matt's extravagance.

"Tom, I don't know how to tell you, but I have to, so... could you please cancel all our work appointments tomorrow?" the frontman asked him so resolutely that it seemed more an order than a request.

"Do you mean the photo shooting in the morning and the three interviews with the main magazines of this country?" the manager summed up, wishing that Matt could realise the importance of those work appointments.

"Exactly!" was the short and disappointing answer Tom received.

"OK about the photo shooting, but about the interviews, I could postpone them, let's say at night, is it OK?" Tom offered.

"No way! Tomorrow night I will be even busier than during the day," Matt protested, since he already had plans for the night, plans that also involved the other two members of the band.

"Let's do things this way: we postpone all the interviews to Saturday morning, as we are on the tour bus, and if we can, we'll set the photo shooting in Bologna before the sound check," Matthew suggested. "Please, please, please!" he begged in a desperate tone, using nothing but the same sneaky strategy Dom had previously used with him.

And it worked.

"It's because of that girl, isn't it?" Tom realised.

"It's always about her," Matt sighed.

"Have fun," the manager gave Matt his blessing.

"Thank you, Tom, you're the best!" Matt adulated him, but his friend had already hung up.

Matthew came back to the inbox of his mobile, ready to answer the message he had received.

*****************************************

The ringtone of 'Viva' by Ligabue, Gaia's favourite Italian singer, warned her about the incoming text message.

'Just name the time and the place and I will be there. Can't wait to see you again, Gaia. A kiss. Matthew. p.s. See? Although I can't pronounce your name properly, at least I can write it!'

She laughed while reading last part. She saved the message, before giving him all the info to reach her. She sat on her bed, closing her eyes to recall the whole, so special night in her mind.  
>They had talked about everything, she had laughed at his jokes, blushed more than once at his compliments. Plus, sometimes she had even teased him, because of something funny about him. All those things made her jump to a conclusion that was as important as shocking.<p>

"_Oh my! It's just what End told me. But.. how can he know that? Oh, god! What if.. if it was him?" _she wondered, excited at the thought only.

"_Oh, please, Gaia, don't start again with your silly, romantic fantasies. Truth is that I saw too many sappy love movies. It could never be the same person. Ok, End is a musician, too, but that proves nothing. Plus, Matthew would never ever have the time to stay at the PC. Well, now that I think about it better… End is almost always in a rush. Anyway, it seems that Matthew is finding a lot of free time, time that he wants to spend with me!"_ she softened and when she received Matt's answer, she softened even more.

"_Alright, I'm going to count the hours, the minutes and the seconds that tear us apart, starting from … now!"_

She read the message again, and resumed racking her brains. That sweet suspicion was driving her insane.

Jessica came back at around 1:00 a.m.. Well, she could have come back half an hour before, if she hadn't answered positively to the shrewd question Dom had asked her, staring at her with even shrewder puppy eyes.

"Are the good guys allowed to kiss the good girls goodnight?" Dom had asked her, reading the answer in her sparkling aquamarine eyes and her bright smile.

There was no need for words, she just confined to nod. The blond got slowly closer to her, bringing his mouth closer and closer to hers and.. they ended up kissing each other for at least twenty minutes, pausing a little only to catch their breath.

During their kiss, Dom was fair, putting his hands nowhere but on her hair, her face, her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. After all, Dom knew what's what and she couldn't remember the last time someone had kissed her like that. In the end they decided to say goodbye... but ended up kissing for other ten long minutes. Well, Dom paid the taxi driver so generously that he could have waited for him until midday!

At the very end, they managed to say goodbye for real. Dom got in the taxi and she walked towards the hall of her hotel. She went upstairs, as silently as she could, and even though she was excited, a constant thought was tormenting her, increasing her guilty conscience.

_"I'm the worst friend ever!"_

She opened the door and stepped across the threshold, realising that the light was still on. She had a sort of dejà vu, but with the roles swapped.

"Are you still up?" Jessica asked her friend.

"I hardly think that I'll manage to sleep tonight," Gaia answered. "Jess, listen, there's something I absolutely have to tell you," she added.

"Actually, I have to tell you something first," the brunette informed her.

"Please, listen to me, first!" Gaia insisted, as she got up from the bed and got closer to her. "I lied to you. Tonight there was no dinner with my friends from university .. and I have never met that girl on my way to the Palavobis," she started.

"I know," Jessica cut her off.

"How do you know that?" she wondered, astonished.

"Gaia, trust me, you'd better sit down. You won't like at all what I'm about to say," Jessica warned her.

"You're scaring me," Gaia grumbled, but she followed her advice.

"To begin with, I lied to you as well. There was no group of guys which I met at the cinema, although I really went there," she informed her. "The point is that I didn't want you to feel guilty if you left me all alone, so I pretended to be busy too," she added.

"Oh, Jess, you're such a lovely girl! Anyway, trust me, your lie is nothing compared to mine," her friend cut her off. I'm so glad that

"It's not so easy, Gaia. There's more. So much more," Jessica stared at her, very seriously. "Did you ask yourself why Dom didn't go out with you tonight?" she asked her.

Gaia looked at her shocked.

"Wait a minute. How do you know that... that?" she blathered, confused.

"It's only my fault if your date was off. Dom and I casually met and.. he chose to go out with me," she explained.

"Dom... went out with you?" Gaia repeated, unsure.

"Yep, but I didn't know it was him. I had some suspicious and then, when you sent the text message to me... "

"What's the matter with Dom's dog, now?" Gaia wondered, even more puzzled.

"Hendrix matters, because.. do you remember when I told you that I had met a guy, after you told me about your meeting at the music store? Well, the tall, blond, beautiful, English guy that I fancied so much was .."

"Oh, God! It was Dom!" Gaia figured out.

"Yeah, but we didn't have the time to introduce ourselves, so I couldn't even begin to imagine that. Anyway, he told me his dog's name, so when you told me about the password..."

"That's why you sent me that text message!" Gaia started to understand everything.

"Yeah, but the point is that even after I realised it was him, although I perfectly knew what he means to you, I decided to stay with him, anyway," she admitted.

"So, are you telling me that Dom dumped me because he wanted a date with you?"

"Yes, I'm hating myself, I suck as a friend and as a person. I'll understand if you don't want to see me anymore. You know what? Since I have already packed my bags, I can leave now if you want, so.. "

Jessica stopped her monologue when he saw Gaia burst out laughing, madly.

"Oh, God! I can't believe it. You… and Dom!" she kept laughing.

"Yes, but.. why are you laughing? Aren't you mad at me?" Jessica asked her.

"Mad at you? Well, you know, if it happened a week ago, probably I would kill you, something like that," Gaia replied with a threatening tone and look. "But now… I just have to thank you, Jess, really!" she added, with a smile.

"Thank me? You're kidding me, right?" the other narrowed her eyes at her.

"Not at all. If Dom hadn't dumped me to go out with you, I would have never gone out with… Matthew!" Gaia confessed.

"So, it's him the person Dom sent to warn you." Jessica figured out.

"Yep, at the beginning he came here only to warn me, then he asked me out, I accepted and.. oh my, I spent one of the most beautiful nights of my life!" Gaia sighed.

"So, you went out with him. Well, he's also gorgeous and seems to be very pleasant," Jessica commented.

"Excuse me, how do you know that?" Gaia asked her curiously.

"Dom spent almost half night showing me pictures on his mobile of Matt and him together. Sometimes there was even the third member of the band… Chris, right?" Jessica asked for confirmation and Gaia nodded. "Anyway, Dom and Matt are crazy! There were such funny pictures!" she laughed.

"Yeah, Matt is funny, kind of crazy, too, but mostly he's so sweet!" Gaia commented with dreamy eyes.

"Uh- uh! It looks like someone fell hard for him!" her friend giggled. "So.. you are not interested in Dom anymore. Are you sure?" she wondered for good measures.

"Jess, what can I say? I feel like I got it all wrong during these years. I had the wrong end of the stick and it blinded me so much that I didn't see what I should have seen, but now that I've finally seen it, I won't let it go," she explained. "About Dom, I can do nothing but be happy for him, now that I know that he's in very good hands. I wouldn't be happy if he was in the clutches of a crazy groupie," she admitted.

"I'm so glad. I feared that I had hurt you. You know, I really care about Dom and it seems that the feeling is mutual, but if you didn't agree, I swear that I…"

"You know what? Even if I still cared about him, I would step aside. After all, it seems that Dom already made his choice," Gaia smiled at her.

"Yeah, and I'm so happy. Gaia, you aren't the only one who fell hard for a guy." Jessica admitted and they laughed together.

"Plus, he made me listen to some of their songs, too. Gee, they're damn good!" Jessica added.

"I've been trying to make you realise it for years," the other pointed out.

"Well, there's some differences between you trying to convince me and _one of the members of the band _trying to do the same!" Jessica giggled. "You know, Dom was trying to train me a little bit for Saturday," she explained.

"Does it mean that you will go to see their show at Bologna?" Gaia realised.

"Yeah, but… I'm sure you will be there, too, after all," the other replied.

"I wish. So far, Matt didn't tell me anything about it, yet," Gaia wavered.

"I'm sure he will. Are you going to see him again, right?"

"You know, I asked to take me home, tomorrow. You don't mind, do you?" Gaia asked her, doubtfully.

"I don't mind at all. Mostly due to the fact that I won't be with you. I'll take the train in the late afternoon, because Dom asked me out even tomorrow. I didn't know how to tell you, but since you will be with Matt, I guess there's no problem," Jessica winked at her.

"Gee, Jess, we totally lost our minds for these guys," Gaia chuckled.

"Definitely. We are gonna reach the point of no-return," the other laughed.

Gaia became serious again, narrowing her eyes.

"So… does Dom really keep Muse songs in his I-pod?" she wondered, puzzled.

"Of course he doesn't. He just borrowed the I-pod from one of his fans at the restaurant, for a while. OK that he loves his job and everything, but that would be kind of exaggerate!" Jessica giggled, infecting her friend too, before the two girls started to give each other a detailed report of the night they had spent.

After some attempts that didn't convince him at all, Matthew decided that there wasn't any need to add something else after the chorus. The song was perfect the way it was, he just had to repeat the verses, in a different way.

He had to think about the melody and the arrangements, but he already had some ideas for it. There would be time enough for that. Right then he needed a more than deserved break. He walked across the long corridor, reaching the banister, where he leant from. He heard the doors of the elevator opening, so he turned, meeting Dominic.

"There's no girl following you in your room. Ok, I got it. Bad date, right?" the redhead teased him.

"Quite the contrary, it was wonderful, maybe the best date ever. You know, this good guy thing... it's not so bad," the blond admitted.

"No, I can't believe it, you didn't jump on her, like you usually do?" Matthew wondered, stunned.

"A kiss only. OK, two kisses. But long, very long kisses," Dom clarified. "And there's more. I'm going to see her again tomorrow," he added.

Matthew was even more stunned.

"You never date a girl more than once! This is not you!" he commented.

"I know, what can I say? It looks like Cupid hit me with one of his arrows," the blond confessed.

"And do you like the feeling?" the guitarist asked him.

"I'm mad about it," the drummer confessed, making his friend smile. "Anyway, where is your killing attitude? If my memory serves me right, you planned to kill me, didn't you?" he changed topic.

"That was before. Now I could kiss you!" the other revealed, but he realised too late what he had said. "In a good sense, I mean," he added in a rush.

"If it's a kiss of yours, believe me, there could be no bad sense. I remember it pretty well," Dominic murmured.

Once again, a deep, awkward silence fell between the two friends.

"Dom... we already had that speech," Matthew grumbled, uptight.

"Yep, we had, but there's nothing bad in recalling the good memories. It was important, you can't deny it," Dom stated, much calmer than him.

"I'm not denying it at all," Matthew calmed down as well. "You know what? If I become gay, you will be the first one to know it," Matthew giggled, ironically.

"And if _I_ become gay, you will be the first on my list!" the drummer joked.

"I count on it!" the pianist pretended to be serious, before they both burst out laughing madly, without giving a damn at the fact that it was late night.

"So, do you want to tell me the reason of your sudden thankfulness?" Dom asked him, when they recovered.

"Because it's only thanks to you that tonight I went out with Go.. Gia... help me say it!"

"Gaia?" Dominic pretended to guess.

"Yep. You know, I thought I just had to warn her, instead... it was fantastic. And she asked me out again. Tomorrow," Matthew announced cheerfully.

"I'm so happy for you. You know what? Jessica, the girl I dated, for the record, is nonetheless but Gaia's best friend. She confessed that to me," the other revealed.

"Really? The world is such a small place!" the redhead chuckled.

"Yeah, just like the web world is. So, are you going to tell Gaia that the mysterious guy from the chat it's you?" the blond asked him.

Matthew smiled, with a fierce light in his eyes.

"I can do better: I'm going to sing it to her."

TBC

- I swear that sooner or later even Matt will manage to say Gaia's name, lol!

- About Dom's mobile, I'm pretty sure it's full of pictures like that: 1.000 with Matt and Dom together, 2.000 with only Matt, 1.500 with only Dom ('cause our beloved drummer LOVES looking at himself!) and something like 100 with Chris and Tom, lol!

- About the BellDom hint, hope you won't mind.. because I just can't help it.

Hope you'll still like this story.


	10. IX

Thank you soooooo much to who put this story in their favourite, it means a lot to me ^^

Chapter IX.

"What do you mean?" Dominic narrowed his eyes.

"She will understand everything as soon as she listens to the song I'm about to finish," Matthew explained.

"Please, don't tell me that you wrote a song like 'Girl whose name I can't say, look, the guy on the web, it's me!' because, let me warn you, there's not a single chance that I help you play such a terrible song," the blond made fun of him.

"First, she has a very difficult name to pronounce," the redhead complained, feeling insulted. "Second, I could never ever write such a plain, banal and predictable song. Anyway, something inside the lyrics, even the title, will reveal everything to her. It's only two words but they will mean so much more to her. It's something only between me and her," he explained.

"Really? Clever!" his friend commented with admiration.

"I know," the other bragged.

"Third, you must help me, whether you like it or not. I'll persuade Chris tomorrow, before leaving, but I'm asking you now: you will help me, won't you?" Matt asked for confirmation.

"Of course I will, count on me," Dom nodded with a smile and then he turned more serious and thoughtful.

"What's wrong now?" his friend asked him.

"Nothing. It's just that... you know, this thing that only Gaia and you can understand..." the blond grumbled. "I mean, Bells, do you really want to have secrets with me?" he added, pouting and looking at him with puppy eyes.

It was always a winning strategy and it worked once again.

Matthew smiled at him.

"You're right. I can't have any secret with you. Come to my room, I'll make you read the song and I'll explain everything to you," he invited Dom and the blond followed him. "So we'll also talk more about our night," he added, closing the door behind their back.

******************************** (In the meantime)

Matthew wasn't the only one in confidence mood.

"You know, Jess, there's still something I didn't tell you," Gaia started.

"More secrets? You're not a student, you're a KGB spy!" Jessica laughed.

"You're always exaggerating!" Gaia laughed with her. "It's nothing compromising, it's just something I didn't tell anyone yet. And it's not about Muse... at least I guess so."

"Tell me everything," the other incited her.

"About a month ago, I subscribed to the Muse official forum."

"Wait. Didn't you say it wasn't about Muse?" Jessica cut her off.

"It was a premise. Anyway, I said that maybe it's not about Muse, but now I'm not so sure anymore," Gaia pointed out. "And I mean it in a good way," she added. "Anyway, first things first. After my subscription, a guy contacted me that night and we started to write to each other..."

A quarter an hour later Gaia finished her tale.

"So now you think that the mysterious guy on the web is Matthew, right?" Jessica summed up.

"I don't know... there are so many coincidences, but at the same time... no way, it can't be him, that's impossible!" Gaia was disenchanted.

"Dear friend, let me remind you that we were supposed to just spend a short holiday here, instead... look what happened! I start to believe that everything is possible and you should do the same," Jessica smiled at her.

"You're right. Maybe it's possible. It would be so wonderful if it was!" she sighed with a dreamy expression, before they turned the light off and went to sleep. After all, a very intense day was waiting for them.

-

The morning after, when they went downstairs to have breakfast, Matt and Dom met at Chris and Tom's table something or rather someone unexpected.

"Hey, Kelly!" Dom greeted her cheerfully. Matt confined to smile and wave his hand.

"See? My beloved wife made such a wonderful surprise to me!" Chris exulted, holding her tight, cheek to cheek.

"Yeah, I left Alfie and Ava Jo with my mother and I arrived here yesterday," she explained as she let her hand flow through his husband's very short hair.

"Yesterday, you said?" Matt wondered, before jumping to an important conclusion. "That's why when I came back you were already sleeping, Chris," he figured out, pointing his index finger at him.

"Well, let's say that maybe the third baby is coming soon!" she smiled, caressing her belly and smiling at Chris.

"This time I want another girl," he declared.

"Gee, Christopher, I'm not a sort of marbles dispenser that you keep on filling with money until you get the marble of the colour you desire!" she pointed out.

"No matter the colour, it seems that Chris has a lot of fun filling the dispenser with money!" Tom chuckled, making everyone laugh.

"So, guys, what are you planning for today?" Kelly asked as they were having breakfast.

"I'm going to meet a wonderful girl, in the town centre," Dom announced grinning.

"I'm going to Como," Matt announced, proud because he named the town properly.

"Why?" Kelly stared at him puzzled.

"It's a long story," the redhead replied mysteriously.

"You're going to meet Gaia, aren't you?" Chris figured out.

"OK, it's not such a long story, after all," the front man chuckled.

"That's why you're so elegant," Chris observed, noticing his blue trainers, blue jeans with a way too coloured t-shirt, partially covered by the famous red Christian Dior jacket.  
>"Really?" Matt asked for confirmation, hopefully.<p>

"Nope, I was kidding. You're awful, as always!" Chris laughed.

"It's not true, you're stunning, trust me," Dom rushed to comfort him as he looked daggers at Chris.

Matt regained his self-confidence, but after some seconds of silence Dominic snapped.

"What about me? Someone tell me something!"

What could you say to someone dressed in a mix between sportswear and causal, with white trainers, black jeans, a red belt, a grey shirt with a white shirt collar and a black waistcoat, all matched with the Matt's twin Dior jacket, the silver one?

"You're impeccable!" Matt and Chris commented in unison, maybe envying a little bit his unfailing elegance.

"That's better," the blond smiled.

"I guess that you two lovey-dovey will take a walk around the town, right?" Dom hypothesized.

"Yep, my big, tender teddy bear will make me see the most beautiful places," Kelly explained.

"Big, tender teddy bear?" Dom, Matt and Tom repeated, amused, before they burst out laughing.

Chris wished he would disappear, as he stared at his wife with an inquisitive and not so friendly look.

"Ok, guys, game over. I was just joking, I never call him like that. I just wanted to embarrass him," she pointed out.

"What about you, Tom?" Chris asked him to change topic.

"Thanks to you who deleted all your work appointments, I'll stay here," the manager grumbled.

"See? It's not only my fault," Matt made him notice. "Anyway, oh, please, don't even try to act like a victim! Like you didn't want to remain here and pester the receptionists, the waitresses and the barwomen!" he added.

"Touché. What can I say? I love my single lifestyle!" Tom chuckled.

"Now I'd better go. Just one thing: Chris, enjoy your day with Kelly, but, please, tonight I need at least a couple of hours of your time," Matt warned him.

"Should I get worried?" Kelly joked, pretending to hold her husband possessively.

"Why? There will be Dom, too," the redhead informed her.

"That's even worse, it's a threesome!" Kelly pretended to be shocked.

"Ah-ah, very funny. It's because of a song. So, Chris, do you agree?"

"Yep, he does," Kelly answered for him.

"Thank you," the front man smiled at both of them before leaving.

"I'd better go, too. What can I say? Don't insert too many money!" the drummer teased him before leaving.

"I leave, too. Who knows, maybe I'll meet again the receptionist, she is so pretty…" Tom left.

"OK, now we are supposed to go out, too," Kelly commented getting up, but Chris pulled her to himself.

"Honey, about what you said before..."

"Yes?" she replied, caressing his forearms.

"You know… big, tender teddy bear. I like it," he admitted.

"I knew it!" she rejoiced, giving him a quick kiss.

"But never in front of my friends!" he pointed out immediately after.

"I guessed so," she giggled before they kissed more properly.

-

Jessica had just arrived. Dominic asked her to meet around half past ten, right in front of the grill where they met for the very first time. It was a quarter to eleven and the girl took a look around, agitated.

_"That's it. Damn me, I arrived here too late and he's already gone. Or maybe he didn't even come, maybe he has something better to do,"_ she began to become paranoid as she tortured one of her dark locks.

All of a sudden, she heard a rumble of female voices coming from the end of the road. A few seconds later, she saw more clearly and clearly the figure of Dominic running madly. As he was running, he took her hand and dragged her with him. They hid in the first side street they found.

"Good. I guess they didn't see me," Dominic commented panting as he tried to catch his breath and set his hair, ruffled by the running.

"An assault by your fans, right?" Jessica figured out as she set her headband.

They had a lot of things in common.

"Yeah, I apologise, my mistake. I should have dated you in a less crowded place. Good for you that you don't wear the Jimmy Choo today," he commented before observing her more attentively.

She was wearing black trainers, light grey, skinny jeans, with a blue shirt unbuttoned enough to cover her rich breasts.

Not only that Dom had to catch his breath, his mouth became extremely dry too.

"Well, I have a journey to face today, so those shoes wouldn't help," she explained.

"You're amazing," he complimented her as soon as he resumed speaking.

"Thank you, you're not so bad, either, dandy!" she smiled. "Fine. It seems that your fans disappeared. Can we go?" she suggested.

"Wait. Where is your suitcase?" he wondered.

"I left it at the baggage locker, at the station. I want to be comfortable!" she explained.

"I would carry it for you all day long," he informed her.

"Thank you anyway, my beautiful gentleman, but it won't be necessary," she smiled at him.

"That's better," he shrugged. "So, which shop do you want to start with?" he asked her.

"You mean to just have a look, right? Because, you know, after my last improvident purchase…" she justified.

"Where's the problem? You are with me and I want to make you happy," he smiled at her.

"You are here with me. You're already making me happy," she confessed, embarrassed for saying something maybe too sentimental.

Dominic softened: "Awww, this is so nice, but it's not what I meant. C'mon, Jess, I'm here at your whole disposal; I have several credit cards and I crave a lot of crazy shopping, which I want to share with you!" he explained.

"I have the feeling that we'll get along a lot!" she chuckled.

"So, tell me, what can I do to make you happy? I mean, materially happy?"

"Well, if you insist… my Gucci feels alone…" she hinted.

"That's the spirit, girl!" the blond approved.

"Anyway, Dom, there's something you can do now to make me happy, not materially," Jessica whispered, as she put her head on his chest, holding him tight and caressing his shoulder through the jacket. She raised her head, to touch his nose with hers.

"OK, I guess I understood…" he murmured, kissing her in a sweet, but also intense way. "Just let me warn you, Jessica, I don't know if I'll be able to act like a good boy today," he confessed, unable to look into her cleavage, as he held her hips to pull her closer to himself.

She smiled, looking at him in a mischievous way that filled him with hope.

"I guess I'll take the risk!" she winked before kissing him again.

***************************** (in the meantime)

Gaia was waiting for Matthew at the platform from where the train would leave, as she checked if she took all her stuff. Matthew arrived a few minutes later, waving his hand from afar in a cheerful way and flourishing the rail ticket as if it was the most precious thing he owned.

"Hi, sweetie!" he greeted her as he stamped the ticket.

"Hi, Matthew!" she smiled as they headed towards the front carriages.

Matthew immediately offered to carry her orange trolley for her. Gaia took up an almost empty carriage and they got on board.

"Sorry, I thought it would be calmer. After all, a train at 11:00 a.m. on a Friday morning shouldn't be very full," she commented

"Don't worry! You know, it's been ages since I took a train like this! It reminds me of my adolescence, when I went to see my favourite bands," he explained as they sat.

"So, even the unachievable Matthew Bellamy was a fan!" she stated in a solemn tone.

"Sure. And I still am, for the artists who worth it!" he replied as he placed her trolley.

"How does it feel now that tons of people travel a lot to see your shows?" she asked him.

"It's wonderful!" he admitted as he took off his red jacket and she did the same with her white jacket.

"Wow!" he exclaimed now that he had a full view of her.

"It's nothing special. I like being comfortable when I travel," she confessed.

She wore white trainers, skinny blue jeans with a fuchsia sweater. Her hair was gathered in a ponytail.

"Believe me, you're stunning even when you dress comfortable," he winked, as he stared at her in awe.

"Thank you," she blushed, unable to face his look.

"Plus, you wear the jeans you wore the first time we met!" he added.

This time it was her turn to look at him in awe.

"Wow, I didn't think you were such an attentive observer!"

"I am, for the important things," he explained, making her blush once again.

"Anyway, my compliments," she said as they both sat down next to each other. "It's not so easy to gather all the colours in the world on a single t-shirt!" she chuckled as he stared at the floor, embarrassed. "But it fits you to a T," she added honestly, making him smile.

The train left and they didn't even notice it.

Gaia remarked two guys, sat at the end of the carriage, who were staring intently at Matthew.  
>She heard their speech and she giggled.<p>

"What's up?" Matthew wondered, seeing her so amused.

"I guess that those guys are some fans of yours," she explained, pointing at them, but with discretion.

"Why? What did they say?" he asked curiously.

"The first one: 'Gee! That guy is the Muse front man!' and the second: 'Yeah, sure! Think about it: the front man of such a famous band could never be on this sodding train! Second class, nonetheless.' The first replied 'You're right. Anyway, he looks like him so damn much!' And the second said 'I don't think so... but now I want to dye my hair red, too!'" Gaia reported, making Matt laugh and laughing with him.

"Anyway, Matt, did you have here the baseball cap you wore the first time we met?" she asked him.

"Sure. How do you think I managed to arrive at the station?" he replied.

"Perfect. Give it to me," she ordered.

Matt took it from his rucksack and gave it to her.

"You'd better wear it, you know... for good measure," she advised him, putting the cap on his head and hiding his showy locks under it.

"I guess you're right," he approved.

"Look, let's do things this way," she informed him, as she got up to take something from her trolley. "I'll show you my solidarity and I'm going to wear a cap, too," she concluded, wearing her hot pink cap, covered by crystals.

Matthew stared at her cap just like a magpie stares at a shining object.

"Can we switch caps?" he suggested with nonchalance, as he started to hate his anonymous, banal black cap.

"You always feel like joking!" she burst out laughing, slapping his shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, I'm such a prankster!" he giggled, pretending indifference.

_"To begin with, your cap would fit perfectly with my t-shirt!" _he thought, a little insulted in his self-esteem.

Anyway, he had to admit that she looked wonderful with that cap. They spent the trip talking. Gaia tried to find out if Matt used PC or if he liked to chat, but the guy was incredibly good at diverting every attempt of investigation with perfect aplomb.

_"I'm glad that she begins to be suspicious, but if she realised everything now it would spoil my plan," _he thought before, because of the hours he had been up to work on the song, exhausted by all the thinking and rocked by the train, Matthew rested his head on the headboard, falling asleep.

Gaia was a little stunned, but she let him sleep, staring at him softened. She found a way to waste time, until the train reached its destination.

"Hey, Matt, we'll be there in five minutes," Gaia whispered, shaking his shoulder gently.

Matt popped his eyes open, recalling what happened and cursing himself:

"Gee, no! I fell asleep! I'm sorry, bloody hell, I didn't mean to!" he apologised, gesticulating in a frantic way.

"Don't worry. Probably I must be more boring than I guessed. And to think that I didn't even talk about university," she commented wittingly.

"No, dear, don't say that, not even as a joke. Truth is that I went to sleep very late last night," he justified.

_"After working really hard, only for you,"_ he reckoned.

"Calm down, Matt, don't worry, I perfectly understand. I'm not angry, quite the contrary. You were so cute!" she smiled. "As you can see, I found something else to do," she added, pointing at her I-pod.

"Aww, that's so cute, you're listening to our songs!" he smiled at her.

"Well, not exactly," she babbled.

Matthew tugged at one of her earphones, in order to take it and listen to music with her.

"Who is this gorilla and why is he hurting his guitar?" he wondered, taking the earphone out, horrified.

"Don't you dare insult the wonderful Ligabue!" she snapped.

Matt snatched the I-pod from her hands, scrolling the playlist.

"Gee! This Liga-thing is everywhere! Look, there are just twenty Muse songs here!" he grumbled, giving it back to her.

"What? Are you jealous?" she teased him.

"You bet!" he growled.

"Well, he's my favourite Italian singer ever, so you'd better not make fun of him!" she advised him.

"I could make fun even of his stupid name!" the redhead struck back.

"Matthew..." she warned him.

"OK, OK, he's such a great artist and everything. Happy now?" he rolled his eyes, making her laugh. "Can we go now?" he added in a softer tone.

"Yes, we can. Anyway, you didn't check properly before, your whole discography is on my I-pod !" she informed Matt, pleasing him.

Gaia left her trolley at the baggage locker, at the station and got ready to show her guest the most attractive places of the town.

It was a sunny and warm day, perfect for a nice walk. They walked for a while around the lake, which had bewitched the gorgeous Englishman at first sight. It wasn't only the lake: the climate, the people, the quietness of the place, the landscape with mountains in the background.  
>Matthew adored that place.<p>

Gaia showed him the sights and tried to answer to his questions about monuments, columns, flower arrangements. After all, Matthew craved knowledge like vampires crave blood.

They reached one of the most isolated places, with a beautiful view of the lake, sitting on a bench and bathing their faces in the sunlight.

"Oh, sweetie, it's amazing here!" he murmured.

"I know. Although I practically see it every day, it's a show I could never get tired of," she admitted, sliding closer to him, until their tights touched, making both of them shiver.

She tried to take his cap off, but he blocked her hand.

"No. What if someone sees me?"

"Here? I don't think so. No one minds anything; it's like a music store, with the only difference that the lake is the main attraction," she explained, taking off both their caps.

"I missed your hair; I wanted to see it again. No, wait, I want to do more," she said, letting her hand flow through his spiky, brilliant, locks with hair gel.

"I like it," she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as she kept caressing his hair.

"Not the way I like it!" he almost purred, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"This lake is just awesome," he stated, staring intently at it.

"It has the same colour of your eyes. I guess that from now on I'll call it Matthew's lake," she smiled at him.

A second later Matt's mouth was on hers. It was a gentle, delicate contact, but it contained/held some expectations as well. Gaia satisfied those expectations, parting her lips to give him the desired access. Matthew wanted to kiss her since he had seen her at the station, but he preferred waiting for the proper moment. There couldn't be a more proper moment.

The guy explored her mouth, nipping at her lower lip softly, tracing the contour with the point of his tongue, outside and inside and then his tongue met hers, but only for a brief touch. His hand flowed through her long, soft hair, trapped in the ponytail, the other hand caressed her face, with a sort of reverence.

Matthew parted from her, staring at her with his stunning, cerulean eyes, crossed by a lot of emotions. The same emotions that shined in Gaia's hazel eyes, as she stared at him, amazed and stunned.

"This was Matthew's kiss," he smiled at her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"This is Gaia's answer," she whispered, before their mouths met again in a kiss that became more and more demanding.

Matthew placed her on his lap, holding her tighter, as he started to explore her neck and face with little kisses and caresses.

Gaia parted from him, recalling that they were in a public place.

"This is way too much. We'd better stop, before I lose control," she said, panting heavily.

"This way you're inviting me not to stop!" he sneered, ready to get dangerously closer to her.

"Matt!" she warned him.

"I was joking, don't worry. So, do you want to resume walking?" he offered, getting up and wearing his cap again.

She nodded, mirroring his actions. They walked for a few meters and then Matt stopped to give her a short, but intense kiss.

"I am allowed to kiss you this way, aren't I?" he asked her, holding her hand in his.

"No, you're not allowed," she answered, seriously and then she giggled. "I'm definitely expecting you to do that!"

Matthew smiled, satisfied as his mind was invaded by thoughts.

_"Good. Very good. It seems that dear old Dommie is not a threat anymore. Now I have one more rival to face: end_of_the_world."_

TBC

What can I say? Only Matthew can have such a contorted mind to consider himself a rival of... himself!

OK, here's some pics:

About our beloved guys, this is Matt's t-shirt (which I LOVE) :

http :/ www. virginmedia .com/images/ wallpapers/music/muse_  
>http : . com/dpd72c .jpg

Here's Dom's outfit:

http:/ www. diatonico. com/wp- content/uploads

And this is the amazing location for Matt and Gaia's first kiss.

http:/ www. europasorico. com/Images/ Photo%20Gallery/ Lago%20di%20Como% 20da%20lungolago%20di% 20Sorico %202%20big .jpg

Hope you'll still like it.


	11. X

**Chapter X.**

"You're such a stubborn girl, aren't you?" Dominic commented as they sat at their table, enjoying the meals they ordered.

"After all you did for me, I guess this is the least I can do. The lunch is my treat, don't you dare to complain!" Jessica insisted... "It's just that, you know, I can't afford a restaurant like the Savini…" she added, feeling awkward.

"You're joking, right? You took me to eat pizza. Italian pizza. Italian pizza in Italy!" Dom grinned, as he cut another slice of his stuffed Pizza Capricciosa. "A delicious pizza, for the record," he added, grinning even more, as cheerful as a child. "You know how to make a guy happy," he mumbled, satisfied, as he drank his beer.

"I'm glad you like it," she smiled, relieved, as she cut her simpler Pizza Margherita.

"Anyway, the company is priceless," he smiled, holding her hand in his.

She smiled back at him, but after a few seconds she stared at him with a sort of expectation.

"Dom, although I adore it when you hold my hand, these pizzas can't be cut on their own, quite the contrary; they're kind of hard to cut!" she commented, making him laugh, so he freed her hand from his grip.

From afar, Jessica saw a teenage girl, around fifteen years old, who kept staring insistently at their table. She wasn't surprised when the girl tried to approach him, very hesitantly.

"Sorry me… but you .. you is?" she asked Dominic, with a faltering voice and in a very pathetic English.

"Yeah, it's me!" he anticipated the girl, smiling warmly at her.

A little bit clumsily, the girl placed her rucksack on the floor and drew out a pen and a diary, passing them to Dom.

"Can I… ?" she wondered, shyly.

Jessica observed the scene, very calmly.

"Sure!" he agreed, taking the diary and the pen. When he opened the diary he was glad to see there were plenty of Muse lyrics and pictures, but mostly pictures of only Dom. He was her favourite one.

Dominic tried to ask her name, willing to sign her diary in a very nice way, but the girl was too excited, confused, or maybe he had spoken way too fast for her to understand him, even though it was one of the simplest sentences in the world.

Jessica drew the girl's attention and smiled at her.

"Jessica," she said, pointing at herself, and then she pointed at the girl, waiting for her answer.

Finally, the girl understood.

"Sarah!" she chirped jubilantly.

Dominic chose one of the pictures with only him and signed it, writing a short sentence for the girl, and then he gave back the diary and pen to her with the same smile that never left him.

"Thank you!" she smiled at him, full of gratitude and then she turned to Jessica, too. "Thank you!" she repeated, smiling at her, before leaving.

"Is she the fan number 5 who approaches you, since we walked in the restaurant?" Jessica commented, once she was again alone with Dom.

"Maybe she was already number 6. After all, we are in the town centre, in a crowded pizzeria. There are tons of kids who come back from school, so it's more than normal they are here. I'm sorry," Dominic apologised with a guilty conscience.

"For what? I like observing you. You're so cute with your fans," she stated as she sipped her diet coke and gestured to the waiter that he could take away the left slices of pizza on her plate.

Dom did the same with his plate, thanking the waiter with his usual kindness.

"You were so nice to my fans. Thank you," he smiled at her.

"Why shouldn't I be nice to them? After all, they do nothing bad," she explained. "Anyway, you could try to be less showy, don't you think so?" she added.

He burst out laughing.

"I'll tell you what, Matt is the reserved guy, who always tries hard not to get recognised. Truth is that I like fame," the blond confessed.

"Surprise, surprise. After all, you're Mr. Look-at-me!" she made fun of him. "You know, if I was famous, I would probably do the same thing. It must be such a nice feeling to be recognised everywhere you go," she commented.

"Well, not everywhere. For example, in your beloved States. We are not famous there, not yet," he informed her.

"So, that's where I have to take you to eat," she suggested wittingly.

"It wouldn't be much comfortable with the travel and the jet-lag; anyway, yeah, it could be a good idea," he chuckled. "Well, we'll see when we start the tour in the States," he added.

"More than willingly, but maybe I will have already moved to London by then," she announced.

"Does it mean that you will move steadily to London? It's fantastic," he exulted. "We should make a toast with champagne, but beer and coke will be OK as well," he said, clinking his beer mug to her glass.

"Anyway, trust me, you will be famous, too," he revealed to her.

"What do you mean?" the girl narrowed her eyes.

He gestured her to sit on his lap and she obliged.

"In a couple of months, people will start recognising you and they will say: 'Hey, it's the girl who won the Muse drummer's heart!'" the blond explained as he swung with her slowly, placing his chin on her shoulder. "They could start saying that even now, after all, it's the truth," he added, moving away and staring at the floor, embarrassed.

She caressed his face, raising his chin to force him to look at her.

"Oh, Dom, you're so sweet! And' it's the same for me; you won my heart, in less than 100 hours. Aren't we rushing things?" she worried.

Dom held both oh her hands, entwining their fingers.

"We were in a rush this morning when we were running from my fans, but now there's not rush, we are proceeding at the right pace: the pace of two people who feel very good just because they are together," he smiled at her, letting her hands free.

The girl squealed, kissing him, no matter if someone could see them. After all, their table wasn't in the way of the waiters.

"Dom, are you sure you weren't a poet in a previous life?" she asked him when they parted, getting up.

He mirrored her actions and followed her at the cash desk. She made sure that he wasn't trying anything funny and managed to pay the bill, saving the receipt like it was a trophy, as he led her towards the exit.

"Jessica, you're different from all the other girls. With you I am myself, Dominic, a normal guy like any other. OK, let's say a normal guy, like any other who is disturbingly gorgeous!" he pointed out.

"A guy like any other who is scarily modest!" she rolled her eyes as they walked.

"The point is that, Jessica, before meeting you, the only girl who I went out with more than once is... my sister! If you haven't ended up in my bed yet, it's because I care about you, you mean something important to me and I realised it in less in 100 hours!" he explained to her. "But it doesn't mean that I don't want to take you to my bed, I do want it! I'd like to take you to my bed right now!" the words escaped the blonds' mouth, messing things up.

"Dominic!" she scolded him, blushing instantly as she increased her pace in order to leave him standing.

He rushed to reach her.

"No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it. Well, not in that way, at least. Damn me, I started the speech so well... please, tell me I didn't spoil anything... you know, I'm not very expert in this kind of things..." he became agitated.

This time it was her turn to hold his hands, smiling at him.

"Believe me, you're so much better than you think," she calmed him down with a kiss. "Anyway, I take back what I said before, about you being a poet," she added, making him smile. 

(In the meantime)

"Sweetie, come here!" Matt called for Gaia, before rushing towards the umpteenth shop.

They had preferred eating a sandwich as they walked, because Matt had no intention to shut himself up in a restaurant and lose the opportunity to visit the place which he was enjoying more and more. Gaia almost repented bringing him to the shops lined around the bank that were full of gadgets for tourists. She calculated wrong: after all, Matt was a tourist. A tourist who seemed to have a disturbing attraction for souvenirs.

In less than forty minutes Matt managed to buy everything: tons of guide books, one even in Italian, because he had fun trying to read those funny words, a couple of those typical pens with water inside and a little, plastic ship with seals on it, with the 'Lake of Como' inscription, a white t-shirt with a picture of the Lake printed in the middle, a reproduction of the lake inside a bell-jar with falling snow, and a worrying amount of magnets and postcards.

The excitement that Matt showed every time he saw something that drew his attention was contagious, he seemed a curios child who couldn't stay still and quiet for a moment. Gaia found that side of him extremely cute. She could easily get accustomed to it.

_"What else does he want to buy?"_ she wondered, following him.

She saw him in front of a mirror, as he tried on one by one, some coloured caps with glittery, golden 'I Como' written in the middle.

"Which one do you think suits me the most?" Matt asked her, wearing first a blue cap, then a white one, a purple red and finally a green one.

"I don't know... they all suit you," Gaia admitted after a careful check.

It was the truth; whatever Matt wore, even the stupidest thing, it fitted him to a T, maybe because of the innate naturalness he wore it with, as if it was made only for him to wear it.

"Alright. Where's the problem? I'm going to buy them all!" he smiled, satisfied.

Gaia shook her head, amused, as she watched him going to the cash desk.

Matt reached her, holding proudly a big shopping bag, inside his normal black cap now replaced by the blue one.

"Listen, Matt. They're shops for tourists. Plural. Many of them. So, leave some stuff for the other tourists, too!" she teased him, as they left the shop. "I don't dare to imagine what you did when you saw Milan or Rome for the very first time!" she added laughing.

"Believe me, you don't want to know it," he laughed with her. "Anyway, my dear witty girl, this is for you," he added, with a soft tone, drawing out from the shopping bag a stuffed swan.

"Awww, Matt, you're so kind. Thank you," she grinned as she held the stuffed swan tightly.

"See? I can think about someone else who it's not myself!" he winked at her.

"Are you really saying that you didn't buy an identical, stuffed swan for yourself?" she looked at him in disbelief, crossing her arms.

She started knowing him pretty well.

"Of course I did, but it's not the point. I thought about you, too. Period," he justified.

"That's true. And I appreciate it. A lot," she smiled at him.

"Weally? So, you could show me your gwatitude, pwopewly..." he teased her, talking on purpose with an exaggerate French r.

"Yeah, I guess I can do that," she murmured before kissing him.

She felt him smile during their kiss, as he placed his hands on her hips to hold her tighter.

"Anyway, I knew that you would buy something related to swans. I saw how much you liked them when we went to see them close," she stated, parting from him.

"I adore them. They're such fascinating animals! And I had fun feeding them," he nodded, smiling at the memory.

"I know and my pictures prove that. See? I could blackmail you," she pretended to threaten him, taking her camera. "Nope, no blackmail. They're simply wonderful," she commented as she watched the pictures with him.

"Actually, I really need to set a photo shooting," Matt mumbled.

"Exaggerated. I'm not that good!" she chuckled.

"No, but you gave me a good idea. Sooner or later, I'll make Muse have a photo shooting here, maybe even an interview!" he decided. "Tomorrow we'll see if Bologna has some suggestive locations, too.."

"With 'we'll see' you mean 'you and your friends', don't you?" she wondered.

"Why? Are you already busy tomorrow?" he asked her.

"Nope, of course. But... since you didn't ask me, I thought that..." she mumbled.

"Oh, sweetie, it's so obvious that it was superfluous to ask you. Come here!" he murmured, holding her tightly in his arms.

"I'm a girl who loves traditions, so I expected an official invitation," she justified as she raised her gaze and lost herself in the crystalline sea of his eyes.

"So you want an official invitation, don't you. Well, you're going to have it," he announced, getting down on his knees and holding her hands with a solemn attitude.

"Oh, sweet, sweet Maiden, shall I have the honour to have thee as my appreciated guest to the show we perform tomorrow, not very far from thy lands? I guarantee that the transport shall not be a trial to thee," Matt uttered.

Gaia laughed.

"Well, Sir, there's no point in disguising the fact that thou art the strangest Gentleman I've ever met. However, I accept thy invitation, very willingly and I thank thee with my whole heart!" she played his game, taking a bow.

"How can the Gentleman be sure that the sweet Maiden is telling the twuth?" he challenged her as he got up.

Gaia didn't say a word; she simply dragged him to herself to give him an intense kiss.

"Is the Gentleman still doubtful about it?" she asked him playfully at the end.

"Uh! Nope, the sweet Maiden was very convincing!" he replied, feeling a little bit dizzy.

"Anyway, Matthew, I'm afraid there's a problem for tomorrow: I don't have the ticket," she pretended to be concerned.

"You haven't he ticket! Well, this changes everything. I'm sorry, you can't come with me," he pretended to be inflexible.

"Oh, really? It's such a pity," she pouted, as she traced the golden glitter of his blue hat and scratched his nape with the other hand. "I was sure we could bend the rules," she went on pleading him.

"Come here, my little outlaw!" Matt laughed, tickling her hips and making her giggle madly.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" he wondered.

"It's three p.m., there are still two hours and a half before the train leaves. There's time enough for me to show you a special place I'm sure you'll like, but I already tell you, there are no shops, sorry," she warned him.

After a short journey with the proper public transports, they reached a small village nearby, crossing a wood that offered a wonderful view of the lake, the hills and the mountains in the background. Matthew didn't miss a shop at all. The place was perfect to get inspiration.

Time ran out and it was time for Gaia and Matt to say goodbye.

"Are you sure that I can leave you here, all alone?" he asked her as they went to retrieve her trolley.

"Yep, don't worry. Jessica sent me a text message, saying that she's on her train and we'll be here in half an hour. I'll wait for her here," she explained. "What about you? Are you waiting for your train?" she asked him.

"No way. Enough with the normal guy for today. I'm going to play again the very spoiled rock star who can allow himself to ask the shuttle of his hotel to take him back to the hotel," he chuckled. "I've called my trustful driver before, he will be here soon," he explained.

"Gee, it seems that your friend impressed Dom a lot! To go out with him twice is like to find a four-leaf clover," Matt commented.

"Why? Does it bring good luck?" Gaia dared to ask as she looked at him, puzzled.

"Nope, I mean that it's rare!" he laughed.

"You tell me! Let me remind you that I didn't manage to go out with him even once," she said.

Instantly, Matt stopped laughing.

"What? Are you regretting that?" he asked her, a little bit insulted.

Gaia burst out laughing, as she hugged him tight.

"You, big, big jealous guy. I've already found my four-leaf clover," she whispered to him.

(After a while)

"Mum! I swear, it's the truth!" Gaia protested as she tried for the umpteenth time to convince her mother of what had happened in the last days.

Jessica observed the scene from afar. Since Gaia's mother, just like almost all her family, didn't speak a word in English, they were speaking Italian and Jessica understood nothing. She could rely only on their gestures and the few words she remembered.

"Yeah, sure. You went to the concert and at the end the singer asked you out!" the woman resumed, very sceptically.

"Nope, mum, not the singer. Dom did, the drummer." her daughter pointed out.

"Yeah, the guy who finally dated Jessica!"

Hearing Dom's name first and then her own name, Jessica realised what they were talking about and she nodded happily, pointing at herself.

"Right, mum, and that's the reason why I went out with Matt, the singer… and everything happened. I'm going to see him again tomorrow," Gaia explained.

"Gaia, honey, you don't need to tell me such majestic lies. If you want to go to another concert, just go. After all, you're studying hard, so you deserve some fun. You and Jess can go as long as you find a place for the night. I know you can take care of yourselves," her mother smiled at her, coming back to the other room.

"Gee, she doesn't want to believe me at all!" Gaia snorted.

"But she allowed me and you to go… right?" Jessica asked her.

"Yep, but…"

"Trust me, that's what really matters. I can guarantee you that from tomorrow on she will believe you," her friend reassured her.

"Why tomorrow? Hey, Jess, do you know something that I don't know?" Gaia interrogated her, suspiciously.

"Yep, I do, but I'm not going to tell you!" Jessica stuck out her tongue.

(After a while)

Around 9:30 p.m. Matt rounded up Chris and Dom at the first recording studio he managed to find nearby their hotel.

He finished playing at the piano the new song he had written and his friends approved of it enthusiastically.

"Congratulations, Matt, it's an awesome song," Chris smiled at his friend and Dom confined himself to nod with a huge grin.

"I'm glad you like it. Anyway, I guess I'll play the piano only before the final chorus. I prefer the guitar, maybe something which goes soft at the beginning and then becomes stronger and harder," Matthew explained. "Do you have any idea?"

Matt played the song again with the guitar. The first time Chris and Dom just listened to him, but the second time they tried to find a way to introduce the bass and the drum line, although they hadn't thought about it properly yet.

They went on, without ever stopping, and around 11:20 p.m. the song was complete and very satisfying. Dom and Chris wrote down the notes on the music sheet and then they played it one last time, which turned out even better than the previous ones.

"Wonderful job, guys, it's perfect this way. Tomorrow we'll let Tom know about the change in the playlist to add this song. And in the afternoon we'll work on some effects," Matthew commented, proudly.

"Gaia will be stunned when she hears this song," Dom stated, smiling at his best friend.

"Well, to begin with, now I don't even know anymore if she will be at our show tomorrow," the redhead informed him, looking thoughtful.

"Uh? What do you mean? Bells, what the hell did you do?" the blond asked him, puzzled.

(In the meantime)

It was a long day, plenty of events, so it was also a tiring day somehow.

As a matter of fact, Jessica was already sleeping and Gaia would follow her example soon, but first there was something she absolutely had to do, something she couldn't resist to.

She turned her PC on, looked at the mailbox fast and then she went on the Muse messageboard, hoping to find something.

And she was lucky. As soon as she logged in, she saw the pop up she was fond of: end_of_the_world had left a private message for her, after about 9:00 p.m..

She read something that shocked her:

'Hi, Missed, you won't ever believe what I'm about to say. Don't ask me how, but I managed to get free from all my duties and since it's a journey I think I can perform in a day, tomorrow I'll be able to reach you, in Milan. You're still there, aren't you? Finally we'll meet! Tell me you will be there, Missed, tell me that I'll manage to give a face and a voice to the girl who stole my heart. Really hopeful to meet you, yours. End. '

TBC

So, see what is our dear Matthew planning?

Hope you'll still like it.


	12. XI A

This is a way too long chapter so I had to split it in two.

Hope you'll like it ^^

**Chapter XI A.**

(In the meantime)

"No, Bells, maybe you didn't hear me. You won't go out from here until you tell me what the bloody hell you did!" Dom ordered him, as he locked the door to prevent Matt from leaving.

"I didn't make any mess, let's say that I set someone's investigation on the wrong track." Matthew grumbled.

"Sorry, I guess I missed some steps. What did you do today? Did you go out with Gaia or did you pop up at Scotland Yard?" the blond made fun of him.

"Ah-ah, funny. Of course I went out with her, but she's the one investigating, asking me some odd questions, such as if I use PC usually, if I like chatting on line and stuff like that. She suspects something," the redheaded clarified.

"She suspects that the guy on the web is you, right?" the drummer realised.

The singer confined himself to nod.

"Excuse me, but... shouldn't you be happy about it?" Dom added.

"You're joking, right? It's a tragedy!" Matt despaired.

"I guess I missed some steps again!" his listener snorted.

"Why can't you see, Dom? Who assures me that she doesn't care about me only because she thinks that I could be the guy on the web?" Matt explained with an unnatural gesticulation, a clear sing that he was getting nervous.

"Matt, dear, you're aware of the fact that the guy on the web _is you_, right?" Dom asked him with apprehension.

"Of course I am, but it's not the same! I have to find out if she likes me for who I am... or if she is still looking for end_of_the_world," Matthew stated.

Dominic looked at him puzzled and Matt read the question in his eyes.

"I mean the guy on the web. It's my username," he explained.

"Well, it suits you!" the blond chuckled. "Anyway, how do you plan to make her choose between you... and you?"

"It's simple. Not only that I made her believe that I'm not the guy on the web, but I asked her out as the guy on the web tomorrow in Milan," the guitarist confessed.

"But tomorrow we're playing in Bologna!" the drummer reminded him.

"I know. So this is perfect, this is going to puzzle her, so she won't think anymore that I could be the guy on the web," the redheaded declared.

"What if she accepted the date? Would you make her go there in vain? Poor, dear girl!" Dom commented.

"I've never said that," Matt shook his head.

"Oh, I got it. You mean that you'll pay a guy and send him there, pretending to be end_of_the_world!" Dom deduced.

"No bloody way! It would be just useless!" Matthew protested.

"You said that we are going to play in Bologna, but at the same time you don't want Gaia to go to Milan in vain, and you don't want her to meet any other guy who is not you either, then how..." Dom summed up, as he stared at his friend, more and more shocked.

"No! Damn you, Bells, you can't screw the show up!" Dom yelled, acting like a perfect talking cricket who was dealing with a very stubborn Pinocchio.

"But it's for a good reason..." he justified.

"Tom will kill you!" Dom tried to make him change his mind.

"If she chooses Milan, I'll have to go there!" Matthew warned him.

"Warner will ask for your head on a plate!" his best friend insisted.

"You would do something totally crazy for Jessica, wouldn't you?" Matt had him up against the wall.

"Low blow!" the elder guy complained.

"It won't be such a tragedy as you guess. You will simply tell everyone that I don't feel well and I can't perform. No one will dare to disturb me in our tour bus where everyone thinks I'm resting," the younger guy exposed his clever plan. "And we'll make up for the lost show, I swear it. I would never ever let our fans down," he added.

Dominic smiled.

"You've already thought about everything."

"Thinking is my favourite hobby, especially if it requests machinations!" his best friend laughed. "So in the worst case ever, can I rely on you?" Matt asked Dom, getting closer and looking at him seriously.

"Damn you, Bells, after all those years you still ask me such idiot things," the blond replied, putting his hand on Matt's shoulder. "Of course you can, I just hope you won't need it," he added.

"You tell me! I want her to choose the real me, not the virtual me. Plus, I'm really dying to sing that song to her..." the redheaded commented, a little bit concerned.

(In the meantime)

"Hey, Jess, are you already sleeping?" Gaia called her.

"No way! I'm just lying in the bed, trying to keep my eye closed and relax, but it's useless, too much adrenaline, you know?" Jessica replied, getting up. "Why? Wassup?" she wondered as she sat beside her friend, in front of Gaia's opened laptop, the only feeble light in the room.

"It's not him," Gaia stated a little upset.

"Who is not who?" her friend wondered, puzzled.

"The guy on the web. He sent me a message, saying that he managed to get free, so he wants to meet me, tomorrow, in Milan," Gaia informed her.

"But tomorrow…"

"Right. Tomorrow there's the Muse show and it's not the kind of duty you can get free from. So, see? It can't be Matt, it was just a coincidence. Stupid me for thinking that!" Gaia grumbled.

"Well, you said that you couldn't live with that doubt. Now that you found out the truth what do you plan to do?" Jessica asked her, going back to her own bed.

"Well, you know, end_of_the_world…"

"Who?" Jessica frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't tell you, it's the username of the guy on the web," Gaia explained.

"Disquieting. What is yours?" her friend asked curiously.

"Eternally-missed."

"Nice," Jessica approved.

"The point is that End fascinates me a lot, we've spent whole weeks making each other feel strong emotions through our messages. Plus, all the mystery makes me want to give him a face, a body, a voice, a defined identity," Gaia commented as she walked back and forth around the room.

"But…" Jessica deduced.

"This morning, my very first thought was 'today I'm going to see Matthew!' and since he left, I'm doing nothing but think that tomorrow I'm going to see him again. I feel so good with him, there's a sort of connection between us, a special feeling, just like with End. No, wait, maybe with Matthew is even stronger. Matthew is so…" she commented, without finishing her sentence, as she took the stuffed swan on her bed and held it tightly.

"I guess you've just answered to my question," Jessica stated with a knowing smile.

"I guess so," the other smiled as she got ready to reply to the private message.

(After a while)

The morning after at the Polloni house, at 9:00 a.m. the girls were ready and they had packaged their things, including elegant dresses for the night. Luckily, Jessica always took with her a dress for special occasions.

"Gaia, Jess, are you sure you're not late? Don't you have to take the train? Please, Gaia, don't tell me that you want to drive to Bologna, because I don't know if I want to give you my car," the mother commented, concerned.

"Don't worry, Mum. No car. No train. Matthew told me he would think about everything," her daughter explained.

"Matthew? Do you mean the Muse singer? Gaia, this story again! Quit it, Gaia, now you begin to make me worry... a lot! You lost your mind," the woman stated, looking at Gaia in concern.

"Mum! How can I convince you that it's the truth? I'm studying psychology, I guess I know a thing or two about the sense of reality!" the girl snorted, exasperated.

Someone rang the bell and when the woman went to open the door, she came face to face with a chauffeur, seeing a white Limo, parked outside, near the gate.

"Good Morning, Madame, I'm here to take the ladies to Mr. Bellamy and Mr. Howard," the Italian man explained and then he turned to Gaia and Jessica: "I guess you are the lucky ladies," he added, with a smile.

Gaia smiled back at him and then she translated everything to Jessica and she also smiled at him.

Before leaving, Gaia approached her shocked mother who stood with her jaw dropped.

"So do you believe me now?" she giggled, kissing her cheek.

Her father had observed the whole scene from the sofa, but when he saw his wife in that state he walked to the woman, hugging her to force her out from her state of shock.

"You know, my dear, I guess that our daughter didn't lie," he commented as they watched their daughter get in the Limo with her friend.

(In the meantime)

Muse were on their way to Bologna.

Matt sat close to Dom, in the middle seats, Chris was at the back seats, with his Kelly and he had eyes only for her.

Tom was at the front seat; he was busy talking on the phone with many people at the same time.

Matt got up for the umpteenth time, waling though the corridor and coming back.

"Dammit, Matt, calm down!" Dom snapped as he was bustling with his mobile.

"I just can't. I want to know where I'll be tonight, but at the same time I'm too afraid to find it out," Matthew grumbled, passing a hand though his flaming hair.

"Just wait for Gaia's answer and then you'll know what to do," the blond advised him.

"Actually, she has already answered. Yesterday night," the redhead informed him.

"What? So what the hell are you waiting for? Go read it!" Dom exhorted him, a little bit rudely.

"I can't, it's stronger than me, I guess I'll wait until the last moment," Matt admitted.

"Tell me, did you manage to sleep at least?" his best friend asked him.

"Yeah, but I had dreams about her who sent a message to me and I was too afraid to read it," the front man replied ruefully.

"You're a hopeless case!" Dom laughed as he decided to add something to the text message he was writing, before sending it.

(In the meantime)

Jessica and Gaia were inside the limousine as they were having fun winding up and down the window that separated them from the chauffeur, giving them the proper privacy.

Jessica's mobile started to vibrate, informing her that she received a text message.

"Well, it seems that Dom is more early-rising than Matt, I haven't heard from him yet," Gaia commented.

"Who tells you that it's Dom?" Jessica struck back, as she drew out her mobile.

"So who it is?" Gaia asked her, rhetorically.

"How did you guess that?" Jessica wondered, astonished.

"Sixth sense!" Gaia stuck her tongue out as Jessica read the message.

'Good morning, honey, do you like the Limo? Are you already inside it, right? Please, don't jump to the wrong conclusion, I'm just asking it for Matthew: is Gaia there with you? It's just that Matt is freaking out and doesn't want to ask her... it's such a long story! A kiss. And this is only for you. Dom'

Jessica smiled, ready to answer, but reading the message once again she jumped to another important conclusion. Gaia was too busy looking outside the dark window to notice her friend's shocked expression.

(In the meantime)

Dominic rushed to read the answer.

'Good Morning to you, Charming Prince, because you're making me feel like I'm Cinderella who is going to the ball... with such a luxury carriage! I'm living a fairy tale with you, I can't wait to hold you tight. Tell Matthew that he can calm down, Gaia is here with me. Why was he so doubtful about that? Wait! Don't tell me that he... it's the...? Whatever the answer is, a big kiss, only for you. Jess'.

"Matt, tonight there will be our show and you're going to play that special song. Trust me!" he informed the redhead, winking at him.

"Do you mean that…" the front man smiled brightly at him.

"A little bird told me that. A little, very sexy bird!" Dom explained, showing him the display of his mobile.

"Thank you, Dom," Matt murmured, before rushing to his laptop.

Dominic watched him leaving with a smile, before answering the message.

'I guess that this is something that your best friend and my crazy, best friend have to face on their own. And this answered your previous question, but pretend I didn't tell you anything, OK? See you soon, Princess.' he wrote and sent it.

Matthew had already opened his mailbox, clicking eagerly on the message that, finally, didn't scare him anymore.

'My dear End, I don't know how to say that... just five days ago, I would have screamed a huge 'YEEESSS ', without excitations. But now... do you remember when I told you that I was divided by you and the best friend of the guy I was sure I felt something for? Well, finally, his best friend is the winner. Today I'm in Bologna, at the Muse show. I'm not telling you because I want you to reach me. It would be the worst thing to do, because it's him that invited me here. And it's him who I chose to be with.'

_"She chose me. I mean... she chose the real me... instead of the virtual me_!" Matt rejoiced, appreciating the fact that she hadn't even mentioned that the guy in question was the Muse front man nonetheless.

Gaia didn't shout it from the rooftops and that made her even lovelier.

The guy went on reading, because it was a rather long message.

'I'm sorry, but... although you're special and there's a fair probability that you could be my soul mate, I just can't renounce to something so beautiful and real that I'm living now for something that, after all, is only virtual. My dear End, I guess that maybe we deluded each other with too many sweet words, but it was such a wonderful delusion, you have to know it. Truth is that outside there's the girl you're waiting for, the right one for you, the one who will treat you in the beautiful way you deserve. A girl you can interact with... even when she is not on-line! ;). I'm sure you'll find her soon.'

_"Well, sooner than you think,"_ Matt smirked.

'Farewell, end_of_the_world.'  
><em><br>"Oh, no, my eternally-missed, there's no farewell between us,"_ he thought as he came back to his seat next to Dom.

"Hey, Bells, you'd better remove that idiot smile from your face! Believe me, you look pretty stupid with it!" his friend made fun of him as he ruffled his hair.

Tom made Matt stop his smiling instantly.

"Here we go, I was looking just for you. Hurry up, Bells. Do you remember all the interviews you forced me to postpone? Well, I have three magazines hanging on, so quit fucking around and start working hard!" his manager ordered, giving him one of the three mobiles he was holding.

Matt obeyed and went downstairs to answer to the questions with more calmness.

Dom was pleading Tom with his puppy eyes and Tom already knew what he wanted.

"Yeah, Dom, you can go with Matt and chime in the interview, but not too much," he allowed him, rolling his eyes and smiling when he saw Dom leaving happy like a child.

After all, Tom knew how much Dom loved the interviews.

(End part A)

The second part will be veeeeeeeeeery important. Hope you'll like it ^^

p.s. 'A Natural Disaster ' and 'Change everything you are ' are on their way, too ^^

Hugs 


	13. XI B

Chapter XI B

The Limo reached its destination, nearby the Pala Malaguti, where the show would be held.

Following the indications that Dom and Matt had previously given them, Jessica and Gaia reached the tour bus. Seeing them arrive, Matt and Dom rushed towards them. The two couples greeted in the proper way and then it was time for some introductions.

"Finally, I meet the girl who managed to impress my best friend who was such a womanizer and get him sorted out," Matt smiled at Jessica and then he turned to Dom: "She already knew that, right?" he wondered, fearing that he said something wrong.

"Yes, I already knew it, Matt," she smiled at him, shaking his hand. "I'm Jessica. You know, after two-three hundred pictures of you that Dom showed me, it's nice to meet you in person," she added.

Both of them turned to look at Gaia and Dom, in utter disbelief. Not only Gaia noticed that, but she already knew the reason.

"Am I jumping on him? Am I behaving like a crazy fan? Am I screaming at him to marry me? No, I don't think so," she made them notice. "Past is past. Now I'm more than happy with my present!" she added in a softer tone, approaching Matthew and passing a hand through his hair.

That seemed to calm down both Matthew and Jessica.

Everyone got off the tour bus and Dom introduced Jessica to Chris, Tom and their crew. Kelly preferred doing things on her own and linked arms with both of the girls:

"I'm going to steal them from you only for a while," she informed Matt and Dom, leaving with the girls to talk to them privately.

When they ended their chatting, Kelly came back to her husband.

"So, what did you say to them?" he interrogated her.

"Don't even try, my dear curios big guy, it was only girly stuff," she giggled. "I like them. You know, it's so rare that Matt introduces one of his girlfriends to me. With Dom, it had never happened so far!" she added.

"Yep, Jessica accomplished a miracle with Dom; I've never seen him like this," Chris smiled as they observed the two couples from afar.

"You know what? Judging by the way they are looking at them, I guess that we'll see the girls again, very often. Finally, I won't be the only woman who follows you to the shows!" she rejoiced.

"I guess so. Wait a minute. You don't know the whole story about Gaia…" Chris hinted.

"Uh? What do you mean?" she narrowed her eyes.

"It's a secret, but I guess that I can tell you anyway. After all, if I don't tell anyone I'm going to explode," Chris commented. "Come here, honey, I'll tell you everything from the beginning."

(After a while)

The opening act band was done after a while, trying to do their best. There were only a bunch of minutes before the show. Everyone was getting ready because everyone wanted to be impeccable that night.

Muse left their dressing room.

Matt and Dom wore black skinny jeans, the first one with an acid green shirt and a black jacket, the second one with a cyclamen shirt and a black tie. It was a look they had used for one of their countless photo-shoots and since it was very elegant, they chose it again. Chris preferred wearing white jeans and a flowery shirt with warm colours: purple, pink and violet. He was very elegant too.

Their women were stylish as well: Kelly wore a long, burnt sienna dress with a proper, but decent neckline; Jessica wore a short, high-necked, aquamarine dress with large and long sleeves; Gaia wore a red, mid-length, halter neck dress.

The six people met and started a round of compliments.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry, but among sound-check, photo shootings and some fans, I didn't manage to spend as much time with you as I would have liked," Matthew apologised.

"You don't have to apologise for anything," Gaia smiled at him, caressing his nape.

Dom and Jess were nearby and they didn't need to talk.

"I promise that I'll make you forgive me after the concert… maybe even before," Matt winked at her.

"Uh! Do you have a surprise for me?" she asked him, excited.

"You'll see," he answered mysteriously.

"C'mon, Matt, let's go, we're going to start in ten minutes!" Chris informed him as he reached him and Dom, who was busy receiving the umpteenth good luck kiss from Jessica.

Chris pushed them both towards the stage.

"I'll be there in a minute, start going without me," Matt yelled at them, coming back to Gaia.

He wanted to tease her a little more.

"Sweetie, I've been watching you all day long. You strike me as someone who made an important choice," he stated.

"You guessed right. And it's the right choice, I'm sure. Good luck, Matthew!" she smiled, giving him a quick kiss before he left.

"What did he mean to say?" she wondered, puzzled.

Kelly and Jessica heard everything and they exchanged an understanding look, realising that they both knew the same secret.

Minutes seemed to fly. The lights of the Pala Malaguti went down and the level of screams increased, claiming their heroes who made their spectacular entrance, starting with a very powerful 'Hysteria '.

The three girls observed everything from the backstage.

"And to think that you insisted so many times to make me listen to their songs. You know what, Gaia? You should have insisted more. I missed such wonderful music. They're brilliant, they're fantastic!" Jessica stated as she stared at Dom and his fervour, playing like a possessed man.

The songs followed one after the other and between them were inserted a few very simple sentences in Italian, which Gaia helped Matthew to memorise and some speeches from Dom, who preferred to speak in English.

Whenever they allowed themselves a break, the three guys came back to their girls, asking them how was the show going.

When there was the very last break, Gaia saw Matthew all engrossed as he gave instructions to Chris and Dom, talking extremely quickly.

"Hey you, train, slow down, I can't comprehend a word this way!" she complained.

"Maybe I don't want you to comprehend," he struck back with a smirk.

"You know what? It's kind of hilarious: when you sing you extend the words as much as possible, but when you talk you're like a river in flood," she chuckled.

"Thank God it's not the contrary, otherwise our albums wouldn't last more than five minutes!" Chris observed, making everyone laugh.

"Anyway, sweetie, I hope you'll like the last part of the show. I really do," Matt whispered before leaving with Dom and Chris.

Muse drove their crowd crazy, playing 'Bliss ', 'Plug in Baby ' and 'Stockholm Syndrome'.

After letting the last note of his guitar ring, Matthew got ready to make his announcement, this time in English, of course.

"Guys, you're such a wonderful crowd, thank you so much! We have one last song, it's a brand new one and we're going to play it here for the first time ever," he informed them and their fans screamed in great excitement.

Matthew smiled, satisfied by the reaction, but there was still something important to say.

"I wrote this song for a special girl who is here tonight. Sweetie, this one is for you!" he murmured, turning quickly to the backstage and meeting Gaia's surprised and joyful expression.

"But... when he told me he had a surprise for me, I thought he would dedicate a song of theirs to me... but I'd never thought he would write one... for me only!" she commented, touched.

"Well, your Matthew knows very well how to make surprises," Kelly stated.

After his announcement, Matthew observed, a little bit amused, the envy that winded in the first row, as all the girls stared at each other in disbelief, wondering who could be the lucky one.

The lights went down completely, floodlighting only Matthew.

He played the first notes on his guitar, at the last frets, reminding of the tune of a musical box.

The guy started to sing, closing his eyes to concentrate better.

_Chase your dreams away__  
><em>_Glass needles in the hay_  
><em>The sun forgives the clouds<em>  
><em>You are my holy shroud<br>Mmmm.._

Gaia was listening to the song carefully. It talked about illusions, rarity, about someone to treat with reverence.

After the first verse, the song gained power, the guitar became more aggressive and the bass and the drums added to it. Matthew repeated the verse and then he went on.

_I just don't care if it's real  
>That won't change how it feels<br>I just don't care if it's real  
>That won't change how it feels<br>No it doesn't change._

Gaia gulped.

"_A feeling that doesn't change, no matter if it's real or not… oh, God, it reminds me of the things end_of_the_world said…no, it can't be, it's only a coincidence!"_ she told herself.

The song came to the chorus.

_And you can't resist  
>Making me feel<br>Eternally missed_

_And you can't resist  
>And you can't resist<br>Making me feel  
><em>  
>Gaia almost passed out.<p>

"Jess! I didn't imagine that. He said… he really said… "

Her best friend smiled at her, nodding.

"Yep, he really did."

"It means that…" Gaia didn't even finish the sentence as she was glowing with happiness.

Jessica nodded again, as Kelly did.

Noticing their self-confidence, Gaia became doubtful.

"Wait a minute. Did you know it?"

"Chris told me," Kelly confessed.

"And Dom hinted something, but he didn't tell me anything about the song. By the way, instead of wasting time with us, you should just listen to it and enjoy it," her best friend advised her.

And that's what Gaia did.

Muse repeated the song from the beginning, but when they reached the chorus, this time Matthew managed to turn to Gaia and in their quick glance they told each other everything.

The song reached the special part and Matt sat at the piano, playing some sweet and high notes that reminded of a misty rain, as his soft murmurs became louder and louder, turning into a final scream that anticipated the last chorus which he singed as intensely as he could.

The song ended in the same way it began with the distorted microphone making it darker, but not a less beautiful version.

Matthew, Dominic and Chris greeted their crowd, throwing drumsticks and plectrums, before going to the backstage.

The front man didn't even manage to cross the corridor because Gaia ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It's you! God, I wished it was you so damn much!" she exclaimed overjoyed. "And the song is… oh, God, Matthew!" she added, hugging him tight.

"I'm so glad you liked it. And, yes, it's me," he murmured, kissing her temple.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him.

"Because you would never believe me, not at the beginning, at least. Or if you did, you would surely ask me to give you Dom's user ID!" he teased her, reminding of her previous preferences.

"Anyway, he doesn't have one. He's not a forum-addicted. He mostly uses the computer to watch the Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer collections of his favourite stylists," he made her laugh.

"Hey, Bells, don't reveal all my secrets!" the blond pretended to reproach him.

"You know, Dom, I don't mind this side of you at all, quite the contrary!" Jessica winked at him.

"Sweetie, you have to admit that singing it to you was much less banal than telling it," Matthew went on.

"No doubt about that. I'm still thrilled for it. It was so… Gee, come here, end_of_the_world!" she murmured, pulling him by the neckline of his shirt and kissing him breathtakingly.

Tom interrupted them, rushing towards Matt.

"You!" he hissed, pointing his finger at him. "I was on the phone with Warner as you played the new song and they heard it. They asked me to tell you that if you dare again to do such a thing without asking their permission first, you can start looking for another record company," he informed him, with a serious look. "But they also said that you are a genius, as always, the new song is amazing and it's the kind of b-side they were looking for. They said that it was a brilliant idea to give a sneak preview at a show, especially here, in Italy, where you are very successful. So, Bells, you saved yourself!" he smiled at him.

"It's not only thanks to me, but also to them. I would never be done with the song without their precious help," Matt explained, smiling at Dom and Chris.

"Anyway, Matthew, you're crazy. What if I had said yes to End?" Gaia wondered.

"I would have annulled this show to meet you in Milan," he revealed to her.

"You WHAT?" Tom yelled, hysteric and pale.

"C'mon, you know our dear Bells, don't you? He always likes joking. What about getting something to drink? Come on, let's go," Chris intervened promptly, leaving with him and Kelly.

"Would you really do such a thing?" Gaia asked him, dumbfounded.

"I would never stand a nice lady up…it's Dom who would!" he replied, laughing with her.

"I swear I would never ever stand you up, Jess!" the blond assured the girl, getting a kiss from his listener.

"Anyway, I'm happy you made this choice. You know, I don't like that my girlfriend pays attention to the scum she met on the web!" he laughed, but she looked seriously at him.

"Did you really say 'my girlfriend '?"she asked him, stunned.

"Yep, I did. Wait. You want to be my girlfriend…don't you?" he asked her hesitantly.

"Matthew, sometimes you ask such idiot questions!" she smiled, kissing him.

Dominic held Jessica's hands in his, staring solemnly at her.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend? I'm not good with words like Matt is, but I promise you that I'll make my best to…" he started, tripping over the words.

"Don't say anything else," Jessica shut him up with a kiss.

"OK, ladies, let's leave this place so we can go and celebrate somewhere else," Matt announced as they reached their dressing room.

"Because you are going to follow us, aren't you?" Dominic wondered.

"You know, mum not only gave us permission to go here but she also said that we must find a place where to spend the night," Gaia informed them with a fake innocent attitude.

"Mi casa es tu casa," Matthew stated.

"We'd better say 'Mi tour bus es tu tour bus'," Dom corrected him.

"What do you say, Jess? Should we accept their offer?" Gaia consulted her friend, pretending to be doubtful.

"Well... if there's nothing better…" her best friend played her game.

"Gee, Dom, did you hear them? They're playing hard to get. We shouldn't have called the Limo for them, now they let it go to their heads," Matt joked, looking at his best friend.

"You're right, Matt. I guess they need a proper lesson," Dom replied, and after exchanging an understanding look, they both started to tickle their respective girlfriend's hips, making them giggle madly.

"Hey, Dom, do you think we can get the proper privacy on the tour bus?" Jessica asked him.

"All the privacy you need," he answered. "Why?" he asked her hopefully.

"Because I guess that tonight you can stop playing the good guy," she whispered in his ear.

It took Matt and Gaia only a look to realise that they would follow that intriguing example.

"I guess it's too late to ask you, but…will you follow us to Paris, tomorrow?" Matthew wondered.

"I'd like to, but my parents are going to kill me if I don't go back home," Gaia confessed.

"I'm sorry, Dom, but I must go back home tomorrow," Jessica informed him, unwillingly.

"I guessed so. Anyway, now we are asking you this in time: Zurich, next week. From there we'll reach London for a double date. And you can't refuse it," Dominic informed the girls.

Jessica and Gaia exchanged an understanding look.

"Sounds good," they exclaimed in unison.

"Alright. See? We can make it work, if we try a little bit. After all, now that I found you, I don't want to let you go anymore. Gaia, I'm really serious about it," Matt murmured, caressing her hair.

The girl stared astonished at him before showing the sweetest smile ever.

"It's the first time that you say my name right. You're really serious about it."

TBC

Clothes time, yay!

Matt and Dom

http:/i . com/vglaa8 .jpg (there's soooooooo much BellDom in this pic, aaaaw)

http :/ .com / xegykh. jpg

Disclaimer: it's pretty obvious, anyway the lyrics are from 'Eternally Missed ' by Muse.  
>(Matt's look is just... * drools*)<p>

Chris

http: /i53. /23iwg91 .jpg

Altough at least ¾ of the Muse discography are dedicated to Dom or talk about Matt and Dom, since the very first time I listened to this song, I had the feeling that matt wrote it for Gaia, don't ask me why, it's just a feeling.

C'mon, this story is almost over, now you just miss only the epilogue, which will be loooooooong, but I'm not going to split in two.

Hope you'll like this part, please, let me know in any case ^^


	14. Epilogue

Warning: BellDom hints, how could they miss in last part? Lol

**Epilogue**

30 June 2006, somewhere in London

"Oh, no! He escaped even this time, I almost caught him," Jessica exclaimed on the threshold of the bathroom, wearing a red bra and grey hot pants.

"Don't worry, he's coming on my way, I'm going to catch him," Dominic assured her from the end of the corridor that separated them, he wearing blue boxers.

In the middle, Hendrix was running desperately, trying to save himself from their clutches because he understood what their goal was and he didn't agree at all. As a matter of fact, the bathtub was partially filled with warm water, the proper sponge and cleanser prepared as well. All those attentions weren't for the two humans, but for the lovely puppy that was almost three years old.

The first time Dom and Jessica managed to grab him and take him to the bathtub, determined to make him have a bath, Hendrix was so smart and fast that he set himself free, making the couple fall in the bathtub, between laughter.

That's why now they wore only underwear.

"End of the race, buddy!" Dom sneered, placing himself in front of his dog with a combative attitude.

All the other doors were closed, Jessica was waiting at the other end, so Hendrix realised it was over.

As he was busy realising it, his master had already lifted him, crossing the corridor towards the bathroom, holding him firmly.

"I don't know why your dog is so unwilling to have a bath," Jessica commented as she took the sponge.

"Well, not only my dog. You know, almost every dog hates to bathe," the blond justified, placing the dog in the bathtub.

"Yep, but your dog seems to hate it more than the others!" Jessica stuck back as she passed the sponge on Hendrix's fur and he growled his disappointment.

"Well, it's surely not something he has in common with me. If it was up to me, I'd live under the shower," Dom chuckled. "Especially, if you joined me," he murmured, caressing her back and kissing her shoulder.

"Mm... c'mon, Dom, behave. No flirting while I'm washing Hendrix," Jessica protested as she cleaned the dog's eyes, ears and muzzle and Dom came back to his main duty: hold his doggy still.

Jessica pulled out the plug, took Hendrix away and wrapped a towel around him, before placing him on a shelf. She rubbed him carefully as the dog seemed to like the attentions. Finally, some cuddles after that traumatic experience!

"Here we are, now you're ready," Jessica lifted him, pulling him closer to kiss his head as she held him against her chest. "Who's mummy's little darling?" she murmured with a sugary voice.

"Well, until proved the otherwise, it should be me!" Dominic grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest, insulted.

Jessica burst out laughing, pushing him away playfully.

"Oh, c'mon, big jealous guy, you can't compete with… a dog!" she made fun of him.

"Well, Hendrix is a male, after all," her boyfriend grumbled.

"OK, Hendrix, now you're free to go," she said, placing the doggy on the floor which ran away happily. "Mummy has got to assure Daddy," she added softly, as she got closer to Dom who was smiling at her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tighter.

"Come here, little darling," she whispered, kissing him.

"That's better," he murmured among kisses. "Anyway, I was joking before, of curse, I can't be jealous of my Hendrix. I love him. After all, every girl finds him irresistible… just like his master!" he bragged.

"Hey!" she slapped his shoulder, not liking at all what he had said.

"Now who's the big, jealous girl?" he teased her, caressing her hair. "C'mon, honey, I was joking. That guy belonged to the past. Now you have a better man in front of you and it's only thanks to you," he smiled, entwining his fingers with hers.

"Aawww, Dom!" she squealed, hugging him tightly.

"Plus, don't forget that we owe a lot to Hendrix, after all it's thanks to him that now we're together," the blond added.

"Really?" she wondered, astonished.

"Well, think about it. If I hadn't walked to the animal store to buy something for him, I wouldn't have met you again," he explained.

"That's true. I still remember that night. When I saw you, I couldn't believe it was possible. Well, it's been a long time since that night!" she stated as she got lost in the memories.

"More than two years and a half. And soon it will be three years," he replied, following her example.

Truth was that after Jessica and Gaia had been at the two shows in London to which Dom and Matt had invited them to, it had become harder and harder for the two couples to split.

Everyone made their best to make the two long distance relationships work, trying really hard.

As soon as Matt and Dom had some free days or ended a tour, each of them reached the respective official fiancée. In the same way, whenever Gaia and Jessica managed to get free from their business, they joined their boyfriends in the tour.

Sometimes the two girls managed to leave together, sometimes only one of them was free.

It wasn't easy to carry on those relationships. Sometimes they had so much business and they had to spend even whole months without seeing each other, trying to be satisfied with phone calls, even intercontinental ones, e-mails or the chat line Matt and Gaia were so fond of.

The best thing was when all of them managed to meet up again. Their double dates weren't rare, in London or in Como, and sometimes even Chris and Kelly joined them.

Year after year, the feeling between Dominic and Jessica did nothing, but grew stronger and stronger. Although Jessica moved to London, they didn't live together, but every time Dom came back home she packaged her stuff and joined him at his flat to spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend. They both saw that as a sort of living together.

Besides, Dom had decided to entrust his beloved Hendrix to Jessica only when he was touring with Muse. Jessica was crazy for the doggy, it was love at first sight… just like with his master!

"Anyway, even if we hadn't met in the animal store, sooner or later we'd meet anyway, since Gaia is Matt's girlfriend," Jessica stated. "You know what? Maybe one day Matt would decide to introduce you to Gaia's best friend…aka me," she explained.

"Yes, it could have been," Dom smiled, caressing her shoulders. "But that way it would be thanks to Matt and not thanks to Hendrix. At least I can thank Hendrix by taking good care of him, giving him the best food ever and his favourite croquettes, bathing him, caressing him, playing with him and taking him out," he explained. "You know, I don't think that Matt would appreciate this kind of attentions from me…well, maybe the last two things!" he added, chuckling and making Jessica laugh.

"You silly!" she exclaimed between laughter.

"It's one of the reasons why you love me," he smirked at her, placing his hands on her hips to pull her closer.

"That's true, I can't deny it," she admitted with a bright smile before kissing him.

The kiss became more ardent and in a few seconds Jessica realised that one of her undergarments was missing.

"Dom! Put it back on me, now!" she reproached him, pointing at her bra on the floor, but she wasn't so disappointed when he cupped her breasts, taking good care of them.

"Are you sure?" he sneered, kissing her again.

"Nope! I mean, yep! We don't have time for that. We have to get ready, we have an airplane to take and we're late," she protested, trying to grab her bra, but he blocked her.

"That's it. We're late, so the flight is lost. Trust me, we save us a useless run. Besides, there are plenty of other flights to Milan. We're going to stay in Italy for a week, so a couple of hours less doesn't change anything. It's fair if we're a little late, don't you think so?" the blond persuaded her.

"Damn you, Dom, why are you always so annoyingly convincing?" the brunette struck back, giving him a peck on his lips.

"Because I love you Jess, and if you follow me in the shower, I'm going to show you how much I do," he whispered in her ear, taking her hand to drag her with himself in the shower.

It's useless to say that she accepted his invitation.

****************************** (In the meantime)

Moltrasio (Como)

"Please, Mr. Bellamy, be patient; we're almost done, there are three questions more to go," the journalist informed him as he was having an interview for an Italian magazine.

Matthew would confine himself to nod, but he remembered that he was on the phone, so the journalist needed a verbal answer.

"OK," he agreed as he passed a frustrated hand through his jet black hair.

"_Probably I did something that pissed Tom off, although I don't know what I've done. But this must be his revenge!"_ he thought as he was working on something on his laptop, but he was paying attention to the questions of the interviewer anyway.

He didn't like that woman at all. It wasn't her debatable pronunciation, so bad that the Englishman made her repeat the questions more than once. On the other hand, it was not that Matthew spoke a flawless Italian, quite the contrary; he rarely tried to speak Italian.

The thing he just couldn't stand about her was that every question of hers seemed to contain other ten little questions inside. Matthew had been at the phone for more than forty-five minutes by then.

Another thing that annoyed him was that one of the previous questions involved his private life, but he knew how to face questions like that. Finally, after half an hour that seemed endless to him, the interview was over.

"Thank you for everything, Mr. Bellamy, you were so kind!" the journalist greeted him.

"_I can't tell the same about you,"_ he reckoned.

"It's my job, after all," was his real answer.

"Well, let's hope we have another interview soon. Bye!" she said.

"You bet," he replied, hanging up.

"_I hope not to hear from you anymore, you, annoying, long-winded, nosey-parker!"_ he wished, worn out by all the questions.

After catching his breath, he came back to his main activity and updated the Muse message board page. He was glad to find a topic about their newest album with the listeners' opinions. He was reading it, skipping the less relevant part when his mobile rang again.

_"No way, it can't be the journalist who forgot to ask me something, I don't know my D.N.A., my blood group? It would be the only thing she didn't ask me yet! "_ he thought, rolling his eyes, unwilling to answer.

As the mobile kept ringing, Matt jumped to other conclusions.

_"It can't be her, she can't have my phone number. I called her from a private number,"_ he reckoned and finally, he decided to look at the display.

He immediately changed his mood: finally, a pleasant phone call.

"Hey!" he chirped happily.

"Hey!" replied a voice happy as well.

"How are you?"

"I'm alright. And you?"

"I'm OK, saving the fact that I've just finished the longest and most tiring interview of my life!"

"Aawww, my poor Mattie. Tell me, you spoke kindly of me, right?"

"Of course I did, it's obvious. As always. Did you have any doubt?"

"Nope, I was just putting you to a test."

"I miss you so badly!"

"Me too, terribly."

"Anyway, let's cheer up. We're going to meet again today. I can't wait!"

"Me neither, I was keeping count of the days that separated us."

"Really? Dom, this is way too exaggerated!" Matt commented, bewildered.

"Nope, of course, I was just joking. It's just that our phone call was turning kind of insane…" Dom grumbled, bewildered as well.

"You're right," the other approved.

"Dammit, Matt! Why do we always sound so gay on the phone?" Dominic laughed.

"I have no idea, Dommie of my heart!" Matt joked, laughing with him. "So what are you doing? Are you at the airport?" he asked him.

"By the way, there's something I must tell you. Jess and I are going to be a tad late. We'll take the flight in two hours; there was a problem with the previous one," Dom informed him.

"Right, sure, I guess I can imagine what kind of problem it was, the kind of problem where you smoke satisfied in the end," Matthew chuckled.

"You do know me!" the other giggled.

"No problem. Gaia and I will catch you later," the first guy stated.

"So what are you doing? Wait, let me guess. Since today 'Black holes and revelations' is out, I bet that you're in front of your PC," the second guy commented.

"Touché. By the way, although it's out for nothing more than six hours, someone already left a comment," Matt informed him.

"Really? What comment?" Dom asked him curiously.

"Ah-ah. See? I contaminated you," the brunet observed.

"What can I say? Bells, you're contagious!" the blond recognised.

"Anyway, this person says that the whole album is not bad, but 'Take a Bow' seems a song for disco!" Matt said with his pride wounded.

Dominic burst out laughing.

"So we'll use it as a b-side somewhere with a proper remix and it will become a disco song for real!" he suggested.

"Do you really think so? I start to think that it's you who left that review," Matthew struck back, doubtful.

"No way, I have something better to do than to live in front of my PC, that would be you!" the other chuckled.

"Yep, I forgot that you're the fashion victim. Well, dandy, let me know what time you arrive here, so Gaia and I can take you home. And stop with the _problems_, OK?" Matt teased him.

"OK, see you later," Dom hung up.

Matt came back to his PC, but he changed his mind when he heard a key turning in the keyhole.

"Hi, honey, I'm back!" Gaia greeted him cheerfully, coming back from university.

Matt preferred gestures to words and ran up to her, holding her tight and kissing her breathtakingly.

"What a nice welcome!" she smiled.

"Is everything OK?" he asked.

"Yep, it was a fruitful exchange of notes, my friend knew the things I didn't know and vice versa. So now we're both more than ready for the exam," she explained, putting her bag on the sofa.

She noticed that the PC was switched on; she then recalled what day it was and jumped to the right conclusion, especially when she saw the screen.

"Gee, so Dom wasn't joking at all when he told me that you're obsessed with feedback whenever a new album is out," she chuckled.

"I'm not obsessed, it's just that I have the right to know it," he justified.

"If I told you that I adore it, it's brilliant, captivating, eclectic, brave and never banal and 'Starlight' is my favourite song, would you take it as a review?" she asked him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Uhmm, I don't know…after all, let's not forget that the reviewer in question sleeps with the singer-pianist-guitarist-front man-main songwriter- of the band," he commented with a fake serious expression as he caressed her hair.

"Are you sure you didn't forget any other role? Gee, Matthew, you're so full of yourself that I wonder what you're waiting for to change the name of your band from 'Muse' to 'Matthew Bellamy... and the other two'!" she made fun of him.

"I'm not full of myself. I care a lot about Dom and Chris, without them I would be nothing. It's just that I like underlining my roles in the band I play in," the front man justified once again.

"You said 'I ' _only_ _five times_ in a sentence. You're right, you're not full of yourself at all," Gaia struck back sarcastically.

"That's what I get for having a psychologist as fiancée!" he snorted, rolling his eyes.

Gaia burst out laughing.

"C'mon, love, I was joking! Anyway, you know that I adore analysing you," she murmured, ruffling his hair.

"And I adore you analysing me," he murmured, kissing her.

"So, do you really think I'm so unbalanced in my opinions? You know better than me that when I don't like one of your songs, I simply tell you, even if I have to argue with the third occupant of this house," she struck back.

"Dom?" he wondered, puzzled.

"Nope, _your ego_!" she laughed.

"Gaia!" he snapped, insulted.

"C'mon, you, touchy boy, I was joking again Sorry, honey, it's just that I have too much fun teasing you," she stuck her tongue out towards him.

"OK, in my next interview I'm going to declare that my girlfriend's favourite hobby is to make fun of me. I could have said it today," he struck back.

"Oh, right, you had the interview today. How was it?" she asked him.

"Long. Bloody long. And exhausting," he snorted.

"And… did they ask you about me?" she hazarded.

"Yep, the nosey-parker tried to invade even my private area. And once again there was the usual question about how you and I met," he explained.

"So, tell me, what did you invent this time?" she asked him.

"In a fishing ground!" he giggled.

"Matthew! You're impossible," she pretended to reproach him, but she ended up laughing with him.

"Oh, c'mon, sweetie, you know that I have so much fun giving every time a different version, just like when people ask me about the name of the band," he justified as he took her hands in his. "Twuth is that the real story of our meeting is so particular that I don't want to spoil it by revealing it in an interview," he added.

"I totally agree," she approved, kissing him quickly. "You know, honey, it's so nice to have you back home," she smiled.

"And it's even nicer that I can finally call it home," he smiled.

Contrary to Jessica and Dominic, they already had some experience of living together. After the first months, Gaia decided to follow him to London and they lived together in his flat. But it didn't last for long because of Gaia's school duty and the pressure from her family, so she came back to Italy.

Matthew understood and respected her choice, but after eight months during which they lived apart, it was the guy who took his decision, joining her in Italy. Matt bought a house near his so beloved Lake of Como. It was a house that belonged to an old, famous musician and Gaia and he had been living there together for some months.

"Let me remind you that we have the concert in two weeks," she said.

"Honey, you're wrong. I'll start the shows with the guys on 18th July," he corrected her.

"Mr. Bellamy, have someone ever told you that the world does _not _turn around you alone?" she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms at her chest. "I meant the concert where you promised to take me to, Ligabue's show," she clarified.

"Me? When the bloody hell would I do such a thing?" he wondered.

"Probably I asked you when you were in your creative phase or when you were busy watching 'Lost', those are moments when you say yes to everything," she observed.

"But… I don't want to go there!" he protested.

"I don't care, you promised!" she made him notice.

"Even you admitted that you extracted that promise from me by deceiving me," he pointed out.

"Of course, otherwise you would never say yes. I've already bought the tickets, so I don't want to miss it. Besides, you always tell me that you would like to get to know some Italian music," she insisted.

"Yep, but... why do I have to start with the gorilla guitar-killer?" her boyfriend complained.

"Matthew!" she warned him, very touchy about that topic.

"Sorry," he apologised sincerely.

"So you don't want to take me there, do you? No problem, I'm going to ask Paolo if he can," she decided.

"Wait a minute. Do you mean Paolo, our awesome neighbour, blond, muscle-head and always tanned or Paolo, your friend at university, the skinny, clumsy, nerd?" he asked her.

"The first Paolo. He will be very happy to take me there," she challenged him with her look.

"No way! I'm going to take you to the stupid, damn, bloody concert!" he grumbled resolutely.

"_Jealousy. A sneaky weapon that always works. And you don't have to be a psychologist to know it,"_ she thought.

"But you'll come to me at the RHCP show!" Matt suggested.

"Deal!" she agreed, not very excited about the idea.

"Compromise is such a good thing," the Englishman smiled.

"As soon as Jess and Dom leave, we'll have a dinner at my parent's house," she informed him.

"Again? But we did it… last year!" he snorted.

"Yep, it's been a long time since then!" she made him notice.

"Besides, let me warn you that my parents are learning English, so forget saying things like you did the last time we went there, when you said that you would like to make love to me on the table, in front of them!" the Italian girl said.

"It was fun," Matthew sneered, sitting in front of the PC.

"They didn't understand, but I did. And I was holding the trash, you almost made me drop it down. The worst thing is that my father managed to understand 'table' so I had to invent something quickly. I said that you appreciated the tablecloth a lot!" she added, smiling at the memory.

Matthew was right: it had been fun.

"Now turn off the damn PC. Tell me, you are trying to molest another stranger, aren't you? I recall very well what happened the last time you did," she giggled.

"Exaggerated! I didn't molest you," he corrected her.

"That's true," she smiled. "Anyway, Matt, please, be good and turn it off. In the meantime, I'm sure that people will write tons of comments," she tried to persuade him.

"Do you think so?" Matt looked at her in disbelief.

"Of course. While you're waiting, I guess we could do a lot of interesting things," she suggested.

"Uh! Yeah, I like it," he murmured, getting up and walking towards her sensually.

"No, Matt, not that! I meant that we have still so many chores to do, such as clean the rooms, set the table. You know that we have guests tonight," she clarified.

Matt seemed upset, but he didn't give in.

"By the way, Gaia, we have more time than you think to clean and set everything," he informed her.

"Why?" she frowned.

"Dom called me an hour ago. He said that they're going to take the next flight because of some _problems. _Do I have to tell you what kind of problems? C'mon, you know Dom," Matt explained.

"And I know Jess. They're so perfect for each other!" she giggled.

"Well, we have nothing to envy," Matthew whispered, lifting her up and placing her on the sofa, before starting to kiss her.

"Mm… Matthew, not here, not now. We still have so much stuff to do," she protested, attempting to go upstairs.

She was already on the stairs, but Matt had an ace upon his sleeve.

"Oh, c'mon," he started to whimper, begging her. "Joyful," he added, in a singsong.

Funny that firstly Gaia couldn't stand to be called like that, but after all those years it had become one of her favourite nicknames, along with Missed or her whole username.

As if under a spell, Gaia immediately came back into her lover's embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You know I can't resist when you call me that, Matteo!" she murmured as she took off his green and yellow t-shirt, throwing it on the floor.

"That's why I do it," he sneered, unbuttoning her white shirt that joined his t-shirt on the floor.

Their kisses turned more passionate and their caresses more demanding.

"I love you, end_of_the_world!"

"I love you, eternally-missed!"

THE END

That' it, girls, this is the end.

Well, I'm not going to ever write another het fic about Muse, because, c'mon, we all know the twuth : Dom and Matt belong to each other … awww 3

However, hope you liked this story, after all I had fun writing it, too. ^^


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